Dad-of-three David Rose killed by morphine given to him by Stakeford neighbour whose life he had saved years earlier

David Rose had been unable to sleep for three days due to a painful knee which had been operated on four times.

He therefore got 28 tablets from Kelly Rowell, who sold them to him on behalf of someone else, on December 10 2020.

Newcastle Crown Court heard Mr Rose, 48, who had a series of health problems, promised to pay £10 for the pills the following day. However, Rowell could not reach him the following day, so raised the alarm with his former partner.And when Mr Rose’s ex asked her sister, who lived nearby, to check on him, she found the dad-of-three dead.

Prosecutor Glenn Gatland told the court: "To put it simply, David Rose died because on the evening of December 10 2020 he took the morphine tablets the defendant Kelly Rowell supplied to him.

"He would not have died but for taking those morphine tablets."

The court heard Mr Rose may have taken between 14 and 28 of the tablets which, combined with other medication he had taken, led to central nervous system depression and killed him.

He had said in a text message on the night he took the morphine he had "asked Big Kelly for some paracetomol and ended up with morphine tablets" and that he had drank "lashings of cider with it".

Rowell initially claimed she had given Mr Rose five morphine tablets and told police she had supplied him with just ibuprofen.

The 42-year-old, of Oxford Road, Stakeford, later admitted morphine supply.

The court heard Mr Rose had saved Rowell's life in 2015 when he suffered aneurysms and he gave her CPR.

Tony Davis, defending, said: "She regarded him as a friend, she had eternal gratitude towards him. It was him who saved her life following aneurysms she suffered in 2015."

Judge Edward Bindloss told Rowell: "You supplied morphine tablets to David Rose, who died as a result of taking some or possibly all of them. His body was discovered the following day.

"You and he were near neighbours and had known each other for some years.

"In 2015, some years before this, you fell unconscious following three aneurysms and Mr Rose saved your life after performing CPR.

"You and he were friends."

Judge Bindloss said Mr Rose's children's lives had been devastated by his death. His ex partner and her sister had also been left traumatised.

The judge added: "There has been an affect on a number of different people in a number of different ways."

He said Rowell had her own "powerful" mitigation, including her own health problems and children who relied on her, and told her: "Neither Mr Rose nor you foresaw death would occur."

Rowell was sentenced to 23 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, with rehabilitation requirements and a three-month curfew.