Academic arrested after girl, 15, dies

Research fellow charged with possession of drugs after teenager is taken ill at house party in west London A university academic has been arrested on suspicion of possession of drugs following the death of a teenage girl who became ill at a party. Brian Dodgeon, a research fellow at the University of London’s Institute of Education, is believed to have been held over the death of Isobel Clara Reilly, 15, of Acton, west London. Officers were alerted by London Ambulance Service at 4.10am on Saturday after she took ill at a house in Barlby Road in north Kensington. Isobel was taken to hospital, but died later that morning. A 60-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possession of drugs and child abandonment, the Metropolitan police said. He was bailed to return at a date in June. Isobel’s death is currently being treated as unexplained, but officers are examining whether drugs played a role in her death. “We await the results of the postmortem examination,” a police spokesman said. A 14-year-old girl, believed to be Dodgeon’s daughter and two boys, both aged 14, were also taken to hospital as a precaution. Last night they remained there under observation. Detective Sergeant Neil Philpott appealed for more information from guests who attended the party. “We believe the victim was taken ill during a party at the address in Barlby Road,” he said. “We are yet to make contact with all those who attended and would ask anyone who was present at any point during the evening to make contact with officers.” Isobel’s family said last night they and their daughter’s friends were “devastated and heartbroken” about her 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,” they said in a statement. They appealed for privacy, and also for anyone who had any information concerning Isobel to contact the police. Tony Ryan, headteacher of Chiswick Community School, where the teenager attended, described her as an “extremely popular girl”. “Her tragically early death is devastating news to everyone associated with the school and all our thoughts are with her family at this time,” he said. Crime Drugs Amy Fallon guardian.co.uk

Posted by on April 24, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.