Drugs binge at top private school left me psychotic, says ex-pupil

Times

10-07-2025

A former pupil of a top private boarding school is suing for £145,000 after claiming she suffered a drug-induced psychotic episode and post-traumatic stress disorder when older pupils supplied her with drugs.
Irune Pedrayes, now 19, claims she developed PTSD after older male students at Buckswood School near Hastings, East Sussex, supplied her with mephedrone-laced vape liquid when she was 14.
She has claimed the school, which charges up to £34,000 a year and teaches 11 to 19-year-olds, failed in its duty of care after she was 'high all weekend' after consuming drugs and alcohol on the school grounds without intervention.
Meghann McTague, representing Pedrayes at the High Court in London, said her client was a 'vulnerable' pupil with additional needs, who should have received better pastoral care.
'The claimant spent that whole weekend — Friday, Saturday and Sunday — consuming a Class B drug that was supplied to her by older boys at the school, and drinking alcohol that was also supplied to her,' the barrister told Judge Geraint Webb KC.
'The drug use took place on the rugby pitch at the school. She was with four other students from the school. Nobody discovered these students. Nobody noticed, despite attending mealtimes and at bedtime, that she was high all weekend.'
Pedrayes, who is from Spain, had no prior experience with drugs, the court was told. She was introduced to 'magic' — a vape fluid containing the Class B drug mephedrone — by sixth-form boys who ordered it online and had it delivered to the school, McTague said. She added that 'another pupil had reported' that Pedrayes had been supplied with the drug.
Pedrayes was later hospitalised after she suffered an extended 'psychotic outbreak' due to the drugs, with symptoms including hallucinations, anxiety and tearfulness.
The teenager's behaviour reportedly deteriorated after the hospitalisation. She was involved in another drug-related incident and withdrew from the school in November 2019.
Her parents were unaware of what she had consumed and her breakdown continued for weeks until she left the school to return to Spain. There, she was treated with anti-psychotic medication but was left with PTSD, heightened anxiety and a greater risk of mental health problems in later life, the court heard.
Her parents were told 'only that she had used a vape and that she was going to be given a smoker's reform sanction', said McTague.
She added: 'Her psychosis was left untreated until she was later threatened with expulsion by the school and returned to Spain.'
McTague said the school's pastoral system was inadequate and contributed to her client's long-term psychological harm. She pointed to a 2019 Ofsted report that highlighted 'recent concerns about students using drugs' at the school.
'The claimant submits that this was far from a 'one-off' isolated incident,' she said.
'Older students were having drugs delivered to the school and were able to use them in groups on the school premises with younger children. There was an endemic problem of substance abuse and a culture of tolerance.'
The school accepted that Pedrayes experienced a psychotic episode as a result of the incident but denied liability. Lawyers for the school argued that anti-drug policies were in place and enforced, and that the institution took drug use seriously.
Nigel Edwards, representing Buckswood School, said the school denied breaching the duty of care owed to Pedrayes and that she had been made aware of the school's ban on drugs and alcohol.
'The defendant avers that it complied with its obligations and put in place risk assessments, systems and rules to educate, discourage and try to prevent pupils accessing drugs,' he said.
'Staff were available night and day within the boarding house. School rules were in place expressly prohibiting illicit drugs.'
Edwards added that staff 'could and did' search pupils and their rooms as part of the school's behaviour policy.
'The seriousness with which the school approached illicit drugs can be demonstrated by the willingness of the school to contact the local police about drugs issues, test and suspend pupils found to have taken drugs and bring in dog teams to check the premises,' he said.
Part of Pedrayes' case is that there were 'clear safeguarding risks' relating to her, including 'impulsive and negative behaviour', but that she had been instead treated by the school simply as a 'badly behaved child'.
However, Kevin Samson, principal of Buckswood School, told the court that there was no evidence that Pedrayes was a 'cause for concern' regarding drugs or vaping and there was adequate supervision in place for pupils.
He said the school did not tell the parents about the incident because a urine test produced a negative result. 'It's not realistic to have a member of staff next to every child 24 hours a day,' he added.
The court also heard that Pedrayes suffered with 'psychological problems' while living in Spain and had failed a year at school before moving to the UK.
Following a two-day trial, Judge Webb reserved his decision on the case until a later date.