Law student, 23, who died after eating single 'cannabis gummy' sweet 'was discovered lying unconscious on bedroom floor by her mother', inquest hears

A 23-year-old law student who died after eating a ‘cannabis gummy’ sweet was discovered lying unconscious on her bedroom floor by her mother before being rushed to hospital where she passed.

Damilola Grace Olakanmi, of Ilford, east London, fell seriously ill after consuming just one gummy which she had purchased from a drug dealer through a messaging app.

The Hertfordshire University student was rushed to Queen’s Hospital, Romford, on March 29, 2022, and died later that week after suffering a series of cardiac arrests and brain damage caused by synthetic cannabinoid toxicity – a class B drug commonly referred to as ‘spice’.

A court heard today that her mother, Wumi, was woken up by a ‘loud noise’ when she rushed upstairs to her daughter’s bedroom to find her lying unconscious on the floor.

The 23-year-old had been at home with a friend who was visiting from the US when the pair ate the gummy sweets and fell gravely ill.

In a police statement after the tragic incident, her mother said: ‘At around 10 to 11pm, I was woken up by a loud noise.

‘I went upstairs to Grace’s room and I saw her on the floor. She didn’t appear to be breathing.’

She told of how the friend’s behaviour was also unusual, as she found her rolling around on the floor next to Grace in a hysterical state. She called emergency services, and police and paramedics rushed to the scene where they carried out life support and attempted to resuscitate her.

Her mother added: ‘In terms of edibles, I’m unaware she had taken them before. I did not know they contained cannabis.’

The death, which has been described by a coroner as ‘utterly tragic’, was concluded as having been caused by drug misuse - more specifically synthetic cannabinoid toxicity.

Coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe told the inquest in Walthamstow, East London: ‘This is the utterly tragic case of a 23-year-old girl consuming synthetic cannabis and having a very serious reaction.

‘She died as a result of 1A synthetic cannabis toxicity. On March 29, 2022, Grace consumed cannabinoid gummies at her home address in Ilford. She collapsed, was taken to Queen’s Hospital, Romford, where she sadly died on April 3.

‘My conclusion is that the death is due to drug misuse. I convey my deepest condolences to the family.’

A man was arrested in connection with the death shortly after the incident, and was charged with possession with intent to supply Class B synthetic cannabinoid, being concerned in the supply of a synthetic cannabinoid, and possession with intent to supply a psychoactive substance.

The court heard that a forensic download of Ms Olakanmi’s mobile phone uncovered communications between her and the drug dealer on a messaging app.

On the day she ingested the gummies, she had messaged the dealer asking: ‘Can I have two packs of 600mg gummies for tonight please. And are they really strong?’ To which he replied yes to both questions.

CCTV footage obtained by police later showed Ms Olakanmi interacting with someone inside a car nearby her home. She then appeared to be taking something from the car. 

Police were able to track down the dealer using the number plate and found he was in possession of a large quantity of cash and what were believed to be edible cannabis products.

The ‘gummies’ the pair of friends had ingested were contained in packaging featuring Trrlli Peachie O’s branding.

When police arrived at the home, Ms Olakanmi was unconscious and foaming at the mouth.

Her friend was rolling around on the bedroom floor, ‘shouting and screaming’. She behaved ‘erratically’ but remained conscious. She was also taken to hospital but later discharged.

On the bed in Ms Olakanmi’s home, police found a packet of edible cannabis sweets which her and her friend had ingested. They also found another packet, with both packets containing four sweets each. The sweets were laced with oxobutan and carboxamide – which are class B synthetic cannabis.

In a statement to police, the friend said that Ms Olakanmi had purchased the sweets from her ‘regular dealer’ and had taken just one each. She said approximately 20 minutes later the pair fell ill.

A postmortem was unable to tell whether it was one sweet which was consumed that contained both the synthetic cannabinoids, or two separate sweets which contained the substances.

At the time, police issued a warning not ‘to buy or consume these products’. Experts also warned that dangerous synthetic cannabis, sold as marijuana sweets, were putting buyers at risk.