'Jade' drug dealer jailed

Wayne Wood: "Greedy" to sell drugs as Jade lay dying

A man who dealt drugs while a 10-year-old girl was dying from an ecstasy overdose has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Wayne Wood, 22, of Highland Brow, Galgate, Lancashire, was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court after admitting four charges of dealing drugs.

Wood was cleared on Wednesday of the manslaughter of Jade Slack, who became the UK's youngest victim of the drug ecstasy after taking five of the pills.

However, the court heard Wood had been dealing ecstasy for months before her death.

Jade found the ecstasy in a cigarette packet that contained 35 pills, which were left by Wood at the house of his then-girlfriend Rebecca Hodgson, who was also cleared of manslaughter.

The jury in that trial decided Wood and Ms Hodgson, of Jackson Close, Lancaster, had taken reasonable steps to stop Jade getting hold of the drugs, and cleared them both.

On Friday the judge, Mr Justice Morland, jailed Wood for three-and-a-half years for the offences but suspended half the sentence.

'Stupid young man'

Mr Justice Morland, had questioned how Wood could still have been "greedy enough" to sell ecstasy while he knew Jade was seriously ill.

In mitigation, Andrew Lawson said his client would like to express his genuine remorse and pass on his sincere condolences to all the family of Jade.

Mr Lawson said that Wood's drug dealing was at the "lower end of the scale".

He said that the death of Jade and the subsequent trial had had a profound effect on Wood and his family.

Mr Lawson added: "His mother and father have now split up and filed for divorce and part of the reason for that is the pressure and stress over the last 14 months."

He continued: "He is an ordinary lad, part of a modern culture which takes ecstasy.

"But there's no suggestion in this case that he is an evil young man.

"In my submission he is an ordinary, stupid, misguided young man."

'Daughter lost'

Outside court Jade's parents, Beverley and Simon, who were with their other daughter Zara, 18, made a statement saying no sentence would bring back Jade.

Mrs Slack said: "Simon and I are frustrated and disappointed that the full facts weren't put before the jury but are pleased the media has reported on Wayne Wood's criminal activities, especially his actions whilst Jade was ill at Salford Road (the house where she took the tablets).

"We still believe Jade would be alive today if she had received medical treatment earlier.

"No sentence will change the fact that we have lost our daughter, Jade."