A Colchester man accused of supplying a psychoactive substance which resulted in two teenage girls being rushed to hospital after they became ill within minutes of taking it has denied supplying the drug.

In interviews following his arrest in September 2016 Shaun Wilson told police that he didn’t know the 16-year-old girl who allegedly bought the drug from him thinking it was cannabis, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

The court has heard that the 16-year-old girl and her 15-year-old friend began vomiting and hallucinating shortly after taking puffs from a joint containing what turned out to be ‘spice’.

A friend of the girls described the 16-year-old as writhing around on the ground and the 15-year-old screaming before falling silent.

The girls were taken to Colchester General Hospital where the 15-year-old was put in an induced coma.

Both of the girls have since recovered from what happened.

Wilson, 40, of Berberis Walk, Colchester, has denied supplying a psychoactive substance on September 22, 2016.

The court heard that the 16-year-old girl allegedly contacted Wilson to buy drugs while she was with three friends in Colchester.

The girl, who had allegedly bought drugs from Wilson before, arranged to meet him near a roundabout near Hawkins Road.

She allegedly gave Wilson £7 for a bag of what she thought was cannabis and she and her friends went to an area near some bins where they rolled half the contents of the bag into a joint.

The two girls and the 17-year-old had a few drags each but within a short term the girls suffered a serious reaction and passers by called an ambulance.

Police recovered the joint from a bin and when it was examined it was found to contain the psychoactive man made substance ‘spice’.

A number for Wilson was allegedly found on the 16-year-old’s mobile phone and officers linked this to a Facebook account in Wilson’s name.

Following his arrest Wilson said he couldn’t remember the day in question because he was an alcoholic.

He told police that he struggled to get hold of ‘spice’ and hadn’t supplied the drug to the 16-year-old girl who he denied knowing.

The case continues at Ipswich Crown Court tomorrow (Thursday).