A former boarding school student has been awarded £145,000 in damages after a High Court ruled that her school was negligent for failing to inform her parents about her drug use, which triggered a serious mental health crisis.

In September 2019, 14-year-old Irune Pedrayes Varela, who had just enrolled at Buckswood School in East Sussex, was handed a vape containing mephedrone, a Class B drug nicknamed “magic” among pupils. After inhaling it, she began suffering paranoia, hallucinations, and manic behavior. By Monday, the school nurse sent her to hospital as her condition worsened.

Her parents, who were living in Spain, were never told by the school that she had taken drugs. Pedrayes later sued, claiming the failure to alert her guardians amounted to a breach of duty of care.

Although the school argued that it had safeguarding measures and anti-drug policies in place, the court found these insufficient. Deputy High Court Judge Geraint Webb KC ruled that staff should have contacted her parents immediately once her condition became apparent.

Pedrayes has since said the ordeal left her with post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. Her legal team also pointed to earlier warnings in an Ofsted report about drug misuse at the school.