A WOMAN who gave a 14-year-old girl drink and drugs has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years after admitting manslaughter.Claire Fowles, 23, also known as Claire Jillings, was prosecuted after Jennifer Harpley died from multiple organ failure on January 20.

A WOMAN who gave a 14-year-old girl drink and drugs has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years after admitting manslaughter.

Claire Fowles, 23, also known as Claire Jillings, was prosecuted after Jennifer Harpley died from multiple organ failure on January 20.

She admitted Miss Harpley's manslaughter, supplying the Class C drug diazepam to the girl and supplying heroin to a third person. She also admitted assault by beating two children in December last year.

Stephen Spence, prosecuting at Norwich Crown Court, said on January 18 Miss Harpley went to Fowles's home at Chaukers Crescent, Carlton Colville, near Lowestoft, with another girl and large quantities of alcohol were taken.

The woman gave them two valium tablets and let the teenager have a swig of methadone.

The next morning Miss Harpley, a former Kirkley High School pupil in Lowestoft, was asleep and her friend could not wake her.

They wanted to get her mother but Fowles was reluctant because under previous bail conditions she was not supposed to be with children under 16.

Eventually, Miss Harpley was taken to a friend's house. An ambulance was called and she was taken to the James Paget Hospital, Gorleston, but efforts to revive her failed.

Fowles had a syringe with heroin in a kitchen drawer, which she had prepared for herself, and said Jennifer may have helped herself to it, the court was told.

The prosecutor said 245mg of alcohol were found in Miss Harpley, which was three times over the legal limit to drive.

Traces of drugs were found. Fowles said she had not supplied the methadone directly.

Mr Spence said as Fowles prevented the other girls from getting her mother, there had been a delay in getting treatment.

Stephen Harvey, defending Fowles, said there was no suggestion of any commercial supply of drugs by Fowles, who had been suffering from depression.

Fowles was jailed for six years for manslaughter and 12 months, to run concurrently, for supplying diazepam.

She was sentenced to two years for supplying heroin to another female and three months for each assault on children, all to run consecutively.

Mr Justice Bell said: "Only a substantial prison sentence will sufficeIt must be made clear to other users of drugs what can happen."

He told her that by the time she had told the hospital what drugs Jennifer had had, she was "beyond saving."