Three accused of killing girl who ‘died in agony from diet pills she bought on internet’
A BULIMIC young suffered the “most distressing” death after taking highly poisonous diet pills she bought online, a court heard yesterday. Eloise Parry, 21, had taken eight pills containing toxic dinitrophenol (DNP) before she died at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, Shropshire, in 2015.
Bulimic Eloise Parry died after taking toxic diet pills DNP
Eloise Parry had an eating disorder and had been diagnosed as bulimic
Prosecutor Richard Barraclough told Inner London Crown Court DNP has been compared to “Russian roulette” as “you might survive, you might not”.
Albert Huynh, 33, Bernard Rebelo, 30, and Mary Roberts, 32, are being prosecuted by Harrow Council in London for alleged manslaughter over the death.
They are also charged with supplying an “unsafe” food supplement.
Mr Barraclough said : “On April 12, 2015, a vulnerable and young woman aged 21 years suffered a most distressing death, having bought from the defendants – on the internet – and consumed a highly toxic chemical called dinitrophenol.
DNP can cause multiple organ failure, hyperthermia, nausea, coma and muscle rigidity
Eloise’s mother Fiona Parry (L), grandmother Margaret (centre) and sister Rebecca (R) outside court
“Eloise Parry had an eating disorder and had been diagnosed as bulimic.”
Jurors were told that Ms Parry started taking the chemical in capsule form in February 2015 and soon became addicted.
The defendants allegedly bought DNP in drums from China and – knowing it was not suitable for humans – took efforts to “deceive” the authorities.
Operating from a flat in Harrow, north-west London, the trio made the capsules, selling them online for a considerable profit, the court heard.
Rebelo, left, and Roberts, right, purchased the DNP from China
Mr Barraclough added: “They knew that DNP was dangerous, not only because two of them had consumed DNP themselves.
“But also because it was well known in the area in which they were operating that any number of authorities and organisations had warned against the dangers of consuming this chemical.”
It is alleged the defendants "cynically thwarted" authorities such as the Food Standards Agency and Interpol which tried to close down their operations.
Mr Barraclough said DNP was a “highly toxic substance when ingested, inhaled or absorbed through the skin” and just 200mg can be lethal.
It causes weight loss by burning fat and carbohydrates.
“The result is that that person’s temperature and metabolic rate all dangerously increase,” Mr Barraclough said.
Mother tells of her daughter who died after taking 'diet pills' she bought online
DNP can cause multiple organ failure, hyperthermia, nausea, coma, muscle rigidity, cardiac arrest and death, the jury heard.
“Essentially, this is what happened to Eloise”, he said.
Huynh, from Northolt, north- west London, and Rebelo and Roberts, both from Gosport, Hampshire, each deny two counts of manslaughter and one count of supplying an unsafe food.
Roberts also faces a single count of money laundering.
The trial continues.