18 November 2011 Last updated at 15:15 ET

Brian Dodgeon party drug death sentence delayed

Isobel Jones-Reilly died after a party in Dodgeon's home in April

A lecturer who admitted possessing drugs after the death of a girl during a party at his west London home could not be sentenced because the judge knew one of his character witnesses.

Judge Robert Winstanley told Isleworth Crown Court in west London he could not sentence Brian Dodgeon, 61.

The case will now be passed to another judge for sentencing on 2 December.

Isobel Jones-Reilly, 15, a friend of Dodgeon's daughter, died after taking ecstasy at the party in April.

Drugs stash

Dodgeon, a research fellow at the University of London's Institute of Education and his partner, Angela Hadjipateras, had left 14-year-old daughter Beatrice at their Barlby Road, north Kensington home unsupervised, despite knowing she had organised a party on Facebook.

He had a quantity of ecstasy, LSD, ketamine and the psychedelic drug 5-MeO-DIPT hidden in a wardrobe but did not think they would be found.

Some 30 youngsters were at the party, and were drinking cider, wine and spirits and smoking marijuana.

Beatrice told party-goers she had found marijuana in her father's drawer and after a search three teenagers found Dodgeon's remaining stash of drugs.

Suicide attempt

Isobel, a pupil at Chiswick Community School, took two ecstasy tablets, and Beatrice and two other youths took one each.

Isobel suffered adverse effects but would not let her friends call an ambulance because she was afraid she would get in trouble. She stopped breathing and friends called paramedics after trying to revive her.

She was taken to St Mary's Hospital in Paddington but was pronounced dead at 06:30 BST on 23 April.

Dodgeon, a former social worker, was arrested at the hospital and questioned by police, and admitted he was a recreational drug user.

A week after Isobel's death, Dodgeon tried to kill himself by jumping from a flyover on the North Circular Road in Walthamstow, north London.

He attended court on Friday using a crutch after sustaining serious injuries, including a fractured skull.

He pleaded guilty to four counts of possession at West London Magistrates Court on 17 October.