Grieving parents warn about illegal drugs at 16-year-old son's inquest

The devastated parents of a teenager who died after taking a deadly synthetic drug, which he thought was cocaine, have pleaded with young people to stay away from drugs.

Michael Cornacchia’s parents, Roberto Cornacchia and Joan Deasy, were speaking after an inquest yesterday recorded a verdict of misadventure. It was confirmed that their 16-year-old son died after ingesting the illicit psychoactive drug U47700 (known as U4) in association with ecstasy.

Manufactured by backstreet chemists and imported mainly from China, U4 is up to eight times more potent than morphine.