Trigger Warning: This article mentions drug use. Please keep comments respectful.
New mum Becky Tollan wanted to have a good night out – her first night out since giving birth weeks before.
The new mum from Scotland and her sister-in-law Pamela Tollan decided to head to a local pub for a few drinks and some adult conversation that didn’t involve changing nappies before returning to the world of babyhood.
However, sadly, Becky didn’t make it back home to her baby boy or her partner.
The new mum died later that night, allegedly due to a cocaine overdose. She lost her life in 2019 but the case is only now being heard in a UK court with the two men who supplied the cocaine on trial for culpable homicide.
Mum dies after girls’ night out – What happened?
Becky, 23, and Pamela, started the night at a pub. They were sitting down enjoying their drinks when two beverages arrived, allegedly ordered by two men also at the pub. Their names were Barry McAuley, 40, and Martin Stewart, 34.
The girls decided to sit with them to thank them for buying the drinks.
While the foursome appeared to be having a good time, Becky wanted more and asked the men if they had any “stuff”.
“I knew exactly what she meant … asking if they had any cocaine,” Pamela told the court.
“Becky was her own person. No matter how much you told her, she would not listen.
I did tell her: ‘You do not need it … you are having a good time’. I told her to stop because you do not need it.”
One of the men allegedly produced a bag of the drug and Becky headed to the bathroom. It’s unknown just how much she took, but the foursome decided to continue the party at a nearby house in the area.
It’s here that Becky consumed more cocaine before shaking and fitting.
‘She started to shake’
Pamela and Becky were reportedly about to leave the house when Becky started to fit. One of the men asked if Becky had “epilepsy” before moving her to the recovery position.
“I just thought she was cold to start with. I was saying: ‘What is happening to her?’ I was shouting: ‘Becky! Becky!’,” Pamela told the court.
She watched her sister-in-law bleed from the mouth after biting her own tongue. They called emergency services but they were unable to save the new mum who was declared dead in the early morning of July 15th.
A devastated Pamela appeared in court, explaining that her sister-in-law had abstained from drugs and alcohol during her pregnancy and that her body may have been overwhelmed on her first night out after giving birth.
McAuley and Stewart have both pleaded not guilty to the culpable homicide charge. The trial continues.
Drug use as a parent
Drug use and parenting is always an emotive topic. Mum Central does not endorse or encourage illegal drug use. We choose to share this information not to condone or judge, but instead as a reminder of just how easy it is to overdo it and just how quickly something like this can happen. Please keep comments respectful on this story.
