Jeni Larmour ketamine death: Mum of Newcastle University student says inquest has vindicated daughter

Jeni Larmour, 18, from Newtonhamilton, Northern Ireland, died hours after arriving at Newcastle University in October 2020, after she drank with new flatmates and sniffed the tranquilliser with one of them.

Kavir Kalliecharan, 20, from Leeds, was later charged with possessing drugs but not supplying them. He also told police the ketamine was Ms Larmour's.

But Newcastle Coroner Karen Dilks said that, on the balance of probability, the ketamine which killed Ms Larmour in combination with the alcohol, had been "provided by another". She recorded a conclusion of misadventure.

Afterwards, Sandra Larmour, flanked by her husband David, read a statement in which she said: "Today I leave this court feeling in pain but knowing my daughter has been vindicated."

Speaking about attending Mr Kalliecharan's drug possession trial, Mrs Larmour said: "I have had to hear that the substance that killed Jeni was her own and that she was wilfully engaged in the supplying of drugs to others. I have always known this could not be further from the truth.

"The coroner's acknowledgement that the drugs were provided to her by another, or in other words not her own, is a comfort to us, getting out to her friends and the community of Northern Ireland that she was innocent in all of this."

The inquest heard Ms Larmour had forgotten her ID while on a trip out to a city centre bar that night and was accompanied by Mr Kalliecharan back to the flat, where they both took ketamine in his bedroom.

The grieving mum said the family has not had any apology from Mr Kalliecharan, who is now studying elsewhere.

Mrs Larmour, who remained proud of her daughter's achievements, said: "This is not the end for us. I will leave no stone unturned for my daughter".

The coroner said Ms Larmour had arrived in Newcastle the day she died and drunk alcohol with her new flatmates between 5pm and 7pm. Mrs Dilks said: "Later that evening, while her judgment was impaired due to alcohol, Jeni took a quantity of ketamine provided for her by another, the combined effects of which led to her death."

Specialist police officers using sniffer dogs searched the flat in Park View halls and found ketamine, cannabis and MDMA in Mr Kalliecharan's room, but he insisted the ketamine was not his. The inquest was told no other drugs were found in any of the student rooms, including Ms Larmour's.

Ms Larmour had filmed a Snapchat video that showed her in Mr Kalliecharan's bedroom, with a white powder on a table.

Andrew Metcalfe, then an acting detective sergeant with Northumbria Police, confirmed that the video showed there was no evidence of either student being coerced or pressured by the other.

In evidence, Mr Kalliecharan claimed he was rendered sick by the drug and vomited for hours before falling asleep, and woke to found Ms Larmour lifeless on his bedroom floor at around 5am.

Immediately after her death he told flatmates that he felt it was his "fault", explaining at the inquest he felt "guilt", not in a criminal sense, but "moral responsibility".