FRIENDS of a teenage girl have told how they tried to wrestle drugs from her hand shortly before she died from an overdose.

Sarahlouise Weston, collapsed on January 30 in an alleyway near her home and died later in hospital.

She had swallowed a quantity of cyclizine, which she had taken from her aunt’s house. The drug is usually prescribed for nausea.

At an inquest at Selby Magistrates’ Court yesterday, four friends said they had gone to Sarahlouise’s home, at Highfield Villas, Sherburn-in-Elmet, at about 1pm on the Saturday while her mother was out.

They said she had been in a good mood, but at 3pm said she needed to do some washing up.

Ten minutes later one of her friends went into the kitchen to see what she was doing and found Sarahlouise, who had the nickname Scooby, with some pills in her hand.

The friend shouted for the others and a short struggle ensued while they tried to take the pills from her. But Sarahlouise dropped to the floor and put them in her mouth, swallowing them.

Her friends told coroner Rob Turnbull that the 13-year-old, who had recently started at Sherburn High School after moving from Selby High, then said she wanted to take more tablets, but would not tell them why.

Instead they made her go with them for a walk, but about 20 minutes later she collapsed in the alley and started having a fit. An ambulance was called and she was taken to Pontefract General Infirmary, but later died.

A post-mortem examination found she had died from an overdose of cyclizine which would have caused convulsions, a coma and ultimately death. The results also revealed she had a small amount of alcohol in her system, but it would not have contributed to her death.

Her friends confirmed they had all drunk some cider that afternoon.

Sarahlouise’s mother, Jennifer Gabel, said her daughter had been happy. She said she had recently been talking about her 18th birthday and how she wanted to become a writer.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Mr Turnbull said he did not believe Sarahlouise had wanted to die when she took the pills. He said: “I have heard from Sarahlouise’s aunt; I can only surmise Sarahlouise had taken the tablets from the cupboard at her aunt’s home at some time, although for what reason I can’t imagine. I’m told that although Sarahlouise had experienced some problems at school she had recently changed her school, settled in very well and was clearly looking forward to her life.”

Mr Turnbull said because of this he did not believe that the teenager intended to take her own life that day. He speculated it may have just been a way of attracting attention, but said he did not know.

He added: “It’s always a tragedy when such a young life is wasted.”