Tyler Peck drugs death: Family feud 'erupted over funeral cash' Published duration 9 December 2019

image copyright Family Photo image caption Tyler Peck was found dead at his mother's house in Salcombe, Devon

A family feud erupted over a cash fund that was set up to pay for a teenage drug victim's funeral, a court heard.

The crowdfunding page set up by a Devon school raised about £3,000 to fund a £1,500 funeral for Tyler Peck, 15.

Tyler died from the overdose last February and Salcombe Primary School set up the page to fund his funeral, Plymouth Crown Court heard.

His mother Holly Strawbridge denies giving him the drugs which killed him.

She and ex-husband Ryan Peck both demanded that the excess funeral money should go to them and not their former partner, the jury was told.

Andrew Pugsley, head of teaching at Salcombe Primary, told police the school, attended by two of Tyler's siblings, started the crowdfunding page.

image caption Holly Strawbridge, Tyler Peck's mother, denies two counts of supplying a class-A drug and two counts of child cruelty

He said that after £3,000 was raised within a week he had "telephone calls from Holly and Ryan wanting to know what was going to happen to the excess money".

"They did not want the other person to get it" and told him "the school had no right to set up a crowdfunding page", Mr Pugsley told the court.

At the time the pair "seemed to be reassured" when he told them the excess money would be distributed to local primary schools.

But this came after Tyler was found dead at Mrs Strawbridge's Salcombe home the morning after a drugs-binge involving her, Tyler and another boy.

'Safe haven'

Mrs Strawbridge is accused of giving Tyler and the boy prescription drugs Oramorph which is a type of morphine, and pain-killer Gabapentin which led to his death.

She denies two counts of supplying a class-A drug and two counts of child cruelty.

The court heard after she was arrested Mrs Strawbridge told police her home was a "safe haven" and that she had "never supplied and never will supply any sort of drugs".

She told police: "I had nothing to do with Tyler's death", the court was told.

The case continues.