Dealer and friend ‘Responsible’ for the death of students

Two men who traded the MDMA in which a 21-year-old student was killed were convicted.

Nathaniel Pavlovic died hours after taking the A -Medicijn class, also known as Ecstasy, given him by his friend George Harle at a house party in Newcastle in October 2020, heard the Crown Court of the city.

Kasam Ali, who sold the MDMA, was imprisoned for three years and seven months, while Harle was imprisoned for a year for a year with 150 hours of unpaid work.

Mr. Pavlovic’s family said they had been destroyed by his death, while Judge Tim Gittins said it had been an “avoidable tragedy” with both men who bear responsibility.

Mr Pavlovic, from Halifax in West Yorkshire, had just started the last year of a Cyber Security diploma at Northumbria University when he died in the early hours of 4 October 2020, the court heard.

He and friends had socialized in his shared spot in the building of Rialto in Melbourne Street when Harle, then 20 years old, arrived and offered drugs, said Jessica Slaghter public prosecutor.

Several people, including Harle, took the MDMA, heard the court.

A girl who used the medicine said that it felt “depressed and paranoid” and made sure they vomit, and added that it was a “totally different” experience than when she used it, said Mrs. Slaughter.

Mr. Pavlovic quickly started acting irregularly, heard the court, suffering of hallucinations and overheating.

His friends tried to cool him down with wet towels, but worried more and more because he was unable to talk or talk coherently, said Mrs. Slaughter.

Paramedics were called and he was taken to the hospital where he was declared dead at 7:23 am.

In statements read to the court, Mr. Pavlovic’s parents said that their son was friendly, sincere and had a “bad sense of humor”.

His father said they had a “Nathan-shaped hole” in their lives and after his death they shared his money between his friends, what he had wanted.

He said that his son was “super careful” and the family would never “know” what was told him that night to convince him to take drugs, and added that it was “out of character”.

Mr. Pavlovic’s mother said that he and his family had denied the joy of many important milestones with him “because another person made a bad decision that eventually ended the life of our son.”

She said he had been very popular with around 300 people who attended his funeral, although many of them had to do this virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic limitations.

“We mourn every day every day for his loss,” she said.

In mitigation for Harle, Adrian Strong said that the weekend had been a last chance for everyone to socialize before the Lockdown restrictions were expected to resume.

The court heard that Harle had since graduated as a nurse who worked with children and wanted to use his “negative experience” to ensure that others did not use drugs.

He said that Harle accepted both moral and legal responsibility for the death of Mr Pavlovic and he would “always regret” his actions, adding: “Nathan’s death is always in mind.”

“He honestly wishes it he was who died that night and not [Mr Pavlovic]”Said Mr Strong.

Harle gave the police the details of his dealer, Ali, 34, who was arrested the next day in his car and found with a migration of MDMA, Cocaine, Ketamine and Cannabis worth a maximum of £ 2,110, said Mrs. Slaughter.

The MDMA turned out to have 96% purity, with messages on his phone showing that Ali had sold drugs since 5 September 2020, the court heard.

For mitigation, John Crawford said that his client was addicted to drugs after being injured in a machete attack and acted in 2019 to pay off debts.

Judge Tim Gittins said that Mr. Pavlovic was “naive” and “completely inexperienced” in drug use, so that a quantity would have been “a fatal dose for everyone”.

“It is nothing less than an avoidable tragedy,” said the judge, and added a responsibility for both Ali and Harle, partly for the death of the “sympathetic” and “beloved young man” in the “Prime of his life”.

The judge said that Ali was willing to sell illegal drugs in deadly quantities, while Harle, as a student nurse, “should have known” better than giving his friend the illegal material.

Judge Gittins said that the case was a “grim warning” about those who saw drugs as “recreational”, and added: “They are nothing less than calling for death and sometimes people lose the game”.

Harle, from Shield Street in Newcastle, admitted that he had delivered MDMA, while Ali, from Croydon Road, Fenham, has admitted four counts to possess drugs with the intention of delivering.