Woman admits drugs charge linked to death

A 21-year-old woman has admitted supplying ecstasy to a schoolgirl who died after after collapsing at the Belsonic music festival in Belfast more than two years ago.

Caithlin McLaughlin, 16, from Londonderry, died after collapsing at the Belsonic music festival in June 2023.

A previous inquest concluded that a combination of drugs, taken before and during the event, had caused her death.

The 21-year defendant, who is from Derry but who can’t be named due to a reporting restriction, pleaded guilty to a single charge of supplying MDMA (Ecstasy) when she appeared at Belfast Crown Court on Thursday.

Before she entered the dock, the defendant began sobbing.

This continued as she was arraigned on a single charge of supplying a Class A drug, namely MDMA, on 24 June 2023.

When asked by a court clerk “do you plead guilty or not guilty to the charge?”, she replied “guilty”.

Her barrister told Judge Gordon Kerr that an aggravating factor in the case was that the MDMA supplied by his client “played a significant factor” in the death of the schoolgirl.

He said he would be seeking reports ahead of her sentencing.

Judge Kerr set the date for this as as 28 November and the defendant was released on continuing bail.