Student's death 'shows taking ecstasy is like playing Russian roulette' "Adam was very clever and articulate, he could speak well from 18 months, he knew right from wrong from the age of five and didn't like to see any injustice," Mr Dixon said. Adam had been at home for Christmas with his parents and younger brother Matthew then, on Jan 7, went back to his halls of residence at Leeds Metropolitan University, where he was studying multimedia technology, Leeds coroner's court heard. Det Con Ian Harper told the hearing that his friends had said Adam bought the drug that night and divided it into three which they took with water at around 10pm. They listened to music and danced in the flat until around 1am, when they went to bed. At around 4.30am, the other two had woken up and discovered that something was wrong with Adam. They called an ambulance and the building's security guard, who attempted resuscitation. Paramedics pronounced him dead at 5.42am. Dr Richard Shepherd, who conducted a post mortem examination, said that the drug had caused Adam's heart to beat irregularly with fatal consequences. "Ecstasy is very idiosyncratic and unpredictable in its effects," Dr Shepherd said. Recording a verdict of death as a consequence of non-dependent drug abuse, the coroner, David Hinchliff, said: "You could take Ecstasy 100 times and have no effect, yet one time you could be struck. It's like playing Russian roulette. I hope this is a warning to people that this is a very dangerous practice and can end the life of, in Adam's case, a lovely young man who showed a promising future. After the hearing, Adam's parents said in a statement: "At a time when students are going to university for the first time, or returning after a summer break, we would urge anyone who is even contemplating trying this or any drug to avoid it at all costs."