RAVE DRUG OVERDOSE PROMPTS FAMILY SUIT

Relatives of Edward James (Jaimie) Britten - who died of an ecstasy overdose
at a rave last year - accuse event promoter Brian Bagnell of selling Britten
the drug and are suing him for gross negligence.

"Brian Bagnell was grossly negligent to Britten by providing him with the
illegal drug ecstasy, a noxious substance which Bagnell knew or ought to
have known was dangerous by its nature," contends the family's lawsuit,
filed at Nova Scotia Supreme Court.

Britten's fiance Helen Noonan; his young daughters Raya Noonan and Aurora
Marche; and his mother and stepfather, Michelle and Mark Britten, are suing
Bagnell and his co-organizers for the 23-year-old's untimely death.

The family holds Bagnell, his company Power Source International, and
business partners James Taylor and Derek Conrad responsible for Britten's
death.

The suit says they should have enforced drug laws at the rave, made sure
there was enough security and had medical staff on-site.

The suit also claims the organizers didn't react properly when they realized
Britten was in trouble. Britten was one of 3,000 people who flocked to
Bagnell's Temptation rave at Exhibition Park the night of Sept. 11, 1999.

In the family's lawsuit, lawyer Kim Richardson alleges Britten bought
ecstasy from Bagnell after he arrived at the rave.

"Shortly thereafter, (Britten) was found incoherent and sweating profusely
on the floor of the building ... Bagnell observed this and chose not to
offer or provide any assistance or medical care," Richardson writes.

"Emergency personnel were called and were unable to revive him."

The suit claims an unspecified amount of punitive damages, special damages
and expenses.

Britten was declared dead at the QEII Health Sciences Centre at about 4 a.m.
He was supposed to marry Noonan, who was pregnant with the couple's
daughter, in November. Raya is now five months old; Aurora is two years old.
After Britten's death, Bagnell and another man, Robert Bedford, were charged
with trafficking in ecstasy.

Bedford, 21, who sold Britten two of the four pills he took, pleaded guilty
and received a one-year conditional sentence. Bagnell is scheduled to stand
trial Sept. 18 at Bedford provincial court.