Bournemouth pair jailed for selling 'Dr Death' drugs that killed 20-year-old Scott Gowing-Wilks

Stuart McGill and Kyle Smith were arrested after Scott Gowing-Wilks died at their flat in Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth, on May 21 last year.

The nightclub employee had taken para-methoxyamphetamine – known as PMA – before he stopped breathing at the flat at the Lansdowne.

His friend James Thomas suffered permanent injuries after taking the same drug that night.

When police arrived, they discovered a huge stash of drugs with a street value of more than £100,000 in the property, including thousands of PMA tablets.

A third man, 26-year-old Bradley Moss, was found not guilty of supplying the class A drug to Mr Gowling-Wilks in the hours before his death.

At Bournemouth Crown Court, McGill was sentenced to twelve-and-a-half years for four counts of possessing class B drugs with intent to supply, one count of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply, and one count of supplying class A drugs.

His flatmate Smith was given 10 years behind bars for possession of class A drugs with intent to supply and supplying class A drugs.

Judge Peter Johnson said he rejected claims that both men were “at the bottom of the chain” of drugs suppliers, adding: “Had these tablets reached the streets of Bournemouth, the harm and misery they would have caused is incalculable.”

Paramedics battled to save Mr Gowing-Wilks, who died hours after taking the small pink pills.

“When police arrived at the flat, they discovered a huge cache of drugs in your rooms – 25 kilograms of cannabis resin, 23 kg of amphetamines and, most seriously of all, 3,500 PMA tablets. The drugs had a street value of just over £100,000,” said Judge Johnson.

“This was an extremely large seizure, the size of which had rarely been seen in Bournemouth before that day.”

He added that both men had been aware of the dangers of the tablets, and said: “You, Smith, had taken at least two [PMA tablets].

“You, an experienced drug user, blacked out and awoke covered in blood.”

'I did my best to save Scott'

A YOUNG father arrested on suspicion of giving a friend the drugs that killed him has spoken out to warn others of the dangers of pills.

Bradley Moss took PMA tablets with Scott Gowing-Wilks and James Thomas in May last year.

Hours later, Mr Gowing-Wilks was dead and Mr Thomas was fighting for his life in intensive care.

The three believed they were taking a so-called ‘legal high’ supplied by friends Stuart McGill and Kyle Smith, who have been imprisoned for supplying the drugs.

Mr Moss was later arrested on suspicion of supplying the drugs to his friends, and was found not guilty of the crime after a trial at Bournemouth Crown Court.

He said: “The three of us went to a pub in Bournemouth for a night out.

“We heard that one of Scott’s friends had these legal high tablets, so we contacted him and took them. At first, there was no effect at all, so about an hour later, Scott disappeared and went to get another three. I decided not to take another.”

The men went back to McGill and Smith’s flat in Holdenhurst Road, where Mr Gowing-Wilks lapsed into unconsciousness.

Mr Moss, who called paramedics, tried desperately to save his friend, even performing CPR, but tragically the 20-year-old died at the flat.

“I did my best but he died,” he said.

“Jamie (James Thomas) was so unwell, and still is. He had to be put into an induced coma, and now he has massive heart problems. He has to walk with a stick. I was taken into hospital too even though I’d had less than them. I remember sweating, my heart was pounding, and I still have scarring around my face where I was scratching at my eyes and trying to claw them out.”

Mr Moss was forced to put his children, aged two and five months, into the care of his mother while on police bail, and wrote them birthday cards in advance for the next five years knowing he could be sent to prison.

He said the agony of waiting for his trial and the devastation caused by Mr Gowing-Wilks’ death has been “horrendous”.

“I’ve known him since I was knee-high to a grasshopper,” Mr Moss said.

“We knew each other when we were little, and I worked with him at Dusk Till Dawn nightclub. It’s just been a living nightmare. I would hear from Scott every day, so not seeing or hearing from him did my head in. I miss him.”

Lethal pink pills cause delirious ranting

URGENT warnings were issued about the so-called Dr Death drugs following the tragedy.

The lethal pink pills,  pictured, marked with the letter M, were so strong that the victim’s body was showing signs of excessive heat more than six hours after his death.

The Dorset Drug and Alcohol Team revealed the shocking information in a bid to warn others against taking the pills.

And they told how four other people showed signs of toxic reaction with one taken to intensive care and having to be heavily sedated due to extreme muscular seizures.

Warnings were issued across the country as more people fell prey to the drugs, known as PMA.

The drugs cause profuse sweating, a racing heartbeat, extreme muscle tension and delirious ranting.

Drugs and alcohol advisers in Dorset said the pills were small and similar in size to a paracetamol but spokeswoman Beth Davies said: “Just because it looks similar does not mean it is safe.

“They are marketed to look harmless but just because it isn’t a crack pipe or a heroin needle doesn’t mean it is safe.”

The same drugs were attributed to the death of 15-year-old Rose Farley in Liverpool and two men in their 20s in Cambridgeshire.

In April, 30-year-old Christopher Goodwin and 21-year-old Emma Johnson both died after taking a cocktail of drugs during a night out in Bolton.

Both fell ill just hours after taking PMA tablets.

Merseyside Police also issued a warning and said there was confusion between PMA and Ecstasy.

“We are concerned that people may take them in higher quantities than they would an ordinary ecstasy tablet when they don’t get the same high and this could lead to a potentially fatal overdose,” said Assistant Chief Constable Andy Cooke.

The body of Scott Gowing-Wilks, 20, was found in a flat near The Lansdowne on May 21 last year.

A number of people were arrested at first.

Three men have been on trial at Bournemouth Crown Court – with one cleared – and a fourth man, John Kershaw, appeared in court in December last year.

The 22-year-old Business Studies student admitted possession of MDMA and cannabis and was fined £80 and ordered to pay £40 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

The cause of Mr Gowing-Wilks’ death was unascertained until toxicology results revealed he died of Para-methoxyamphetamine (PMA) toxicity.

An inquest was opened and adjourned and now a decision will be made as to whether or not to hold a full inquest.