A Colchester man has denied supplying a drug to a 16-year-old girl which resulted in her and a friend being rushed to hospital after they became ill within minutes of taking it.

Giving evidence today (Thursday, January 25) during his trial at Ipswich Crown Court, Shaun Wilson said he did not know the teenager and had not supplied psychoactive substances to her.

The court has heard the girl and her 15-year-old friend began vomiting and hallucinating shortly after taking puffs from a joint which they believed contained cannabis, but which turned out to be ‘Spice’.

One of the girls’ friends described the 16-year-old as writhing around on the ground, and the 15-year-old screaming before becoming silent,

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

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

The court heard the 16-year-old had 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 a 17-year-old had a few drags each but within a short time 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, texts from the 16-year-old were allegedly found on a mobile phone found at the property where he was staying.

Wilson denied selling Spice and said he could not remember on the day in question because he was an alcoholic.

The case continues.