POLICE ORDER MASS LINE-UP

Detectives investigating a possible drugs-related death forced all the
450-odd people at a Pakatoa Island dance party to line up and be
photographed before letting them go home.

Top Northland surfer Jamie Lawrence Langridge, aged 24 of Whangarei,
was found lying dead on a concrete slab during the night-till-dawn
dance party at Pakatoa, 45km northeast of Auckland.

He had injuries to the back of his head, but police believe they were
caused when he collapsed and fell on the concrete.

Detectives said preliminary tests from an autopsy on Saturday were
inconclusive, and they were now awaiting toxicology test results to
help to determine whether drugs or alcohol were involved.

Partygoers who attended the $60-to- $100-a-head dance said that after
Mr Langridge's body was found about 2 am. Claims were made that he had
taken two Ecstasy tabs.

If Ecstasy is found to be the cause, it will be New Zealand's second
death linked to the drug.

Aucklander Ngaire O'Neill died after taking the so-called "love drug"
while at a dance party in Karangahape Rd in October 1998.

The officer leading the investigation into Mr Langridge's death,
Detective Senior Sergeant Stu Allsopp-Smith, said the fact that he
collapsed at a dance party would make it "very easy to draw an
inference that drugs were present, but we've got no evidence of that
at this stage, so it's only mere speculation."

He said police photographed partygoers when they got off the boat at
Auckland because "there were 400 to 500 of them and we were not in the
position to interview them all at length, so we took their names and
details and a photograph solely to use should we have to take the
inquiry further."

Detective Senior Sergeant Allsopp-Smith denied reports that police
were hunting for drug dealers who had been at the party, or that the
autopsy had shown the presence of amphetamines and
methamphetamines.

The president of the Auckland Council of Civil Liberties, Barry
Wilson, said last night that people were required by law to give their
name, address and date of birth to police.

"But there is no requirement to have their photograph taken. You have
a photo taken only after you're arrested. Police really have an
obligation to destroy that information further down the track. They
can't use it to build up a dossier of suspected Ecstasy takers."

Chris O'Donoghue, a director of Lightspeed Productions, which
organised the two-day Pakatoa Island party along with the Nautical
Productions company, refused to comment yesterday.

The death did not stop organisers continuing with the second night's
activities, which police said caused no problems.

The parties, which were still being advertised on television on
Saturday, were staged to mark the closure of Pakatoa as a resort island.

TV and radio star Mikey Havoc was one of the party's four DJs. He
could not be reached for comment.

The island, east of Waiheke, has been a resort for 35 years, but is
now on the market.

Detective Senior Sergeant Allsopp-Smith said the parties appeared to
have been well organised.

Mr Langridge's brother-in-law, Symon Drake, said yesterday that the
family did not want to comment on whether they thought Jamie used drugs.

"But if drugs were involved, then when is the Government going to pay
attention? The whole scene is out of hand."

At around 184cm tall and fit and healthy, Mr Langridge won many
surfing competitions, including the Northland championships.

He was working as a builder's labourer for Formans Interiors, the
Whangarei-based firm of his father, Laurie.

The former Whangarei Boys' High School student enjoyed skateboarding
and had a passion for art. Some of his paintings were displayed in
cafes and bars around Whangarei.

Laurie and Dianne Langridge cut short a trip in the South Island on
Saturday after hearing of their son's death.

Mr Drake said the funeral was still being planned, and the family were
thinking of scattering Mr Langridge's ashes in the surf.