A drug dealer was jailed this morning after admitting supplying the MDMA which led to the death of tragic teen Josh Oliver.

Jack Church, also known as Jack Pointer, pleaded guilty to selling the illegal Class A substance to the youngster for £40.

The 19-year-old, of Hill View Road, Whitstable, was sent to the prison for three years – after his barrister told Canterbury Crown Court he was devastated by the tragedy.

Judge Adele Williams told him: “I remind myself and others that I am not sentencing you for causing the death of Josh but for supplying drugs.

“But this was supplying a Class A drug and only a sentence of custody is justified.

“This just illustrates the fact this drug is so unstable and why it is illegal and controlled. It can have different effects on different people.”

Prosecutor Alex Rooke told how Josh telephoned Church in December 2014 and later bought Ecstasy from him.

The youngster and his girlfriend used the drug and Josh is believed to have taken more of the substance later before becoming ill.

He was later taken to hospital with breathing difficulties after suffering a fit and later died.

“He wishes to express his extreme remorse and devastation over what happened to Josh" - Matthew Boult

His barrister Matthew Boult told the court that Church had been “incredibly stupid and had acted out of naivety.”

“These were drugs which Church himself was taking. They were from the very same bag.

“He wishes to express his extreme remorse and devastation over what happened to Josh.

An inquest into Josh's death heard that he went into convulsions at a house in Whitstable on December 29.

Margate Coroner’s Court heard that Pointer was identified as the man who supplied the MDMA, also known as ecstasy.

Det Con Martin Williams told the hearing that Pointer was listed in Josh’s mobile phone as “Jack Dealer”.

Josh’s girlfriend Molly Smith-Lawson also identified Pointer as the man who she believed had given Josh the drugs.

Molly told the inquest that she and Josh had gone to her house Saddleton Road and “bombed” the MDMA – a method of taking it which involves wrapping the powder form of the drug in a cigarette paper in swallowing it.

She said they had both taken it, but she and two other friends at the house that day soon became concerned about Josh.

Later he started fitting and paramedics were called. Josh was lying on Molly’s bed with his top off.

Paramedic Catherine Tremble said: “Upon arrival at the house, I went straight upstairs and found Josh in full cardiac arrest. "Josh had been fitting for about 45 minutes. He was later taken downstairs and taken to hospital.”The ambulance took Josh to the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate where he was pronounced dead.

A post-mortem showed that Josh had died of MDMA poisoning.

Coroner Ian Goldup recorded a verdict of death related to drugs.

Josh was a pupil at the Community College Whitstable and had previously studied at Canterbury High in years 7 and 8.

He lived on a five-acre former farm in Dargate, where his family keep animals.