University lecturer Brian Dodgeon, who was arrested after a schoolgirl collapsed and died during a party at his house, has pleaded guilty to four drug possession charges.
The 61-year-old lecturer at University of London appeared at West London Magistrates' Court on Monday, charged with five counts of possession, including the party drugs LSD, ketamine and ecstasy.
Schoolgirl Isobel Jones-Reilly died at Dodgeon's home after taking a cocktail of illegal substances during an unsupervised party on 22 April. The 15-year-old went into cardiac arrest after telling friends she was "feeling ill". An ambulance was called around 4am when the schoolgirl stopped breathing.
Although paramedics arrived minutes later and tried to resuscitate Reilly, she was pronounced dead at 6.30am at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington. The cause of her death was listed as MDMA - a class A drug - ingestion.
Prosecutor Nisha Dutt told the court how the accused's daughter Beatrice Hadjipateras recounted to friends at the party how she had previously found cannabis in her father's drawer. Three of the party-goers then went into a bedroom and found a canister containing drugs including capsules, plastic containers and bags.
"Isobel took two tablets", Dutt said. "Mr Dodgeon's daughter and two other youths took one each.
"By 3am Isobel had shown signs of deterioration. She had started hallucinating and became very hot and red faced. Her friends wanted to call ambulance but she insisted that they did not because they would get into trouble."
Dutt told the court after "about an hour" the schoolgirl lay on the bed frothing at the mouth before going "pale and motionless". "She stopped breathing and friends could not find a pulse."
Dodgeon's 14-year-old daughter and two 14-year-old boys were also detained in hospital after the party, which took place at his home in Ladbroke Grove - on the same street where education secretary Michael Gove lives. The teenagers had spent the evening consuming alcohol after Dodgeon and his partner Angela Hadjipateras went out for the night.
Around 30 teenagers attended the party and were drinking cider, wine and spirits and smoking marijuana.
At the time, Isobel's parents Lynne Jones and Patrick Reilly, from South Acton, released a statement about their daughter's death.
"Isobel's family and friends are devastated and heartbroken by her untimely death. We hope that if anything positive comes from this dreadful event, it is that others will make the right decisions to be safe and well in the future."
Dodgeon, of Barlby Road, north Kensington, whose research subjects have included health inequalities and alcohol consumption patterns, has been suspended from his job on full pay.
Rhona Friedman, mitigating, told magistrates how Dodgeon leapt from a bridge in a suicide attempt a week after Reilly's death, which Friedman described as "the most dramatic exhibition of remorse".
The defendant broke numerous bones, fractured his skull and needed brain surgery after jumping off a flyover on the North Circular Road in Walthamstow, east London.
A spokesperson for the University of London's Institute for Education, where Dudgeon was a lecturer, told the Huffington Post he would remain suspended until the outcome of the court case.
"It would be inappropriate to comment any further while the judicial process is underway", they added.
Dodgeon will be sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court on November 18.