ECSTASY VICTIMS' PARENTS PRAISED FOR PICTURING CORPSE

Parents who asked for a photograph of their daughter's corpse to be
released as a warning about the dangers of the drug ecstasy were yesterday
praised for their bravery.

Lorna Spinks, who was studying sociology at Anglia Polytechnic University,
Cambridge, was pictured at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge shortly
after she died as a result of taking ecstasy.

Cambridgeshire Police said they agreed to arrange the photograph at the
request of Miss Spinks' parents - but a spokeswoman said she expected the
force to be criticised because many people would think the picture was in
bad taste.

Miss Spinks's parents, Alan and Elizabeth, who live in France and were at
her bedside when she died, said they hoped the horror of the picture would
serve as a warning.

Miss Spinks died in hospital early on Monday after collapsing in the early
hours of Sunday. Police said she had taken two lime-coloured pills marked
with a euro symbol before visiting The Junction nightclub in Cambridge on
Saturday.

The spokeswoman said Miss Spinks' parents had wanted their daughter to be
photographed while she was in a coma but the student had died before the
picture could be arranged.

"They wanted the photograph to be taken in the hope that it would serve as
a warning and after discussions we agreed to that," said the spokeswoman.
"We hope that it will portray the full horror of what drugs can do --
although we expect to be criticised because many people will no doubt feel
it is in bad taste."

Miss Spinks' mother, who described her daughter as a "golden girl", added:
"To see a child like Lorna, who was so, so pretty and when she was dying
she looked like a monster who had been run over by a truck. All her organs
had been affected. She had been bleeding from everywhere. She couldn't do
anything on her own and eventually her heart gave out."

Police said the tablets were of exceptionally high strength. "A family's
life has been devastated and I cannot stress enough the dangers of taking
ecstasy or any other illegal drugs," a police spokesman said.

And Paul Betts, whose daughter Leah died in 1995 after taking ecstasy at
her 18th birthday party at her home in Latchingdon, Essex, said the couple
should be applauded for "sticking their heads above the parapet".

Mr Betts, 55, a former policeman, agreed for a picture of his daughter to
be released to the media while she was alive, but unconscious.

"I've never regretted my decision about the photograph of Leah. If it saved
one life it was worth it," he said. "I applaud Lorna's parents for their
courage ... it must have been incredibly hard. But it may save a life."