A father has been jailed for five years and four months after admitting being responsible for the death of his teenage daughter by supplying her with an illegal drug.

Jason Wilkes pleaded guilty to manslaughter shortly before he was due to stand trial at Maidstone Crown Court. He had previously admitted supplying her with MDMA (ecstasy).

A judge heard that if the 45-year-old had not delayed getting Chloe Wilkes medical help by about an hour he could have saved her life.

Wilkes supplied the drug to his 17-year-old daughter at their home in Tunbridge Way, Singleton, Ashford, on July 26 last year.

The former North School pupil felt unwell and collapsed. But instead of immediately calling an ambulance he drove her to his work place.

She was eventually taken to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, where she died soon afterwards.

Judge Philip Statman said of a statement by Chloe’s mother: “The impact has been profound. One cannot think of anything worse for a mother to have to go through.”

Prosecutor James Mulholland QC said Chloe died from the toxic effects of taking a large quantity of the drug.

“The prosecution case has always been that the actions of Jason Wilkes have played a significant part in her demise,” he said.

Wilkes bought the ecstasy and it was divided up between them. It was not the first time he had obtained Class A drugs for them to take together, said Mr Mulholland.

They had both taken ecstasy and cocaine the evening before and three months earlier.

“Here was her parent who in reality should have been protecting her from Class A drugs and, in fact, encouraged his child to take them,” he continued.

The court heard Wilkes made a 999 call in the early hours of Sunday, July 27, for an ambulance to go to the Henwood industrial estate in the town where he worked for RK Resource.

He said his daughter was not breathing and she did not have a pulse. He was giving her CPR.

An ambulance arrived within eight minutes. Chloe was outside the unit. There was no sign of life. The crew fought to save her and eventually managed to restart her heart. She was then taken to hospital.

Asked what had happened, Wilkes said he and his daughter had both taken ecstasy three hours earlier.

She complained of being hot and he said he took her to the industrial estate to cool her down. She was fitting and foaming at the mouth. He at first took her to The Warren wooded area.

Mr Mulholland said hospital medical staff worked hard to try to save Chloe’s life, but were unsuccessful.

It was clear the amount of ecstasy taken by Chloe was very high and such a quantity had been known to cause death. She had also taken cocaine.

When interviewed, Wilkes - who also had a 13-year-old son living with him - said he and Chloe had taken a lot of drugs on both the Friday and Saturday.

“He said he felt like getting on it, and she agreed,” said the QC. “She said all her friends were busy that weekend.”

Wilkes said he bought a gramme of MDMA and they shared it through the Friday night.

They did not go to bed. The next day he bought another gramme and they decided to take it again that night after his son went to bed.

He put half a gramme in a Rizla paper and they swallowed it with water - a method of ingestion called “bombing”. The drug cost £160.

Wilkes said he knew Chloe had been taking drugs since the age of 13.

The father said he noticed that by 1am Chloe had become agitated and disorientated. He took her into the garden, where she was wobbly and banging into things.

She put her in his car and drove into the countryside towards Hothfield and ending up at The Warren. Chloe was rambling. She was soaking wet from “overheating”.

She got out of the car and fell over. He put her back in and instead of taking her to hospital took a more circuitous route to the industrial estate.

“He applied a towel to her forehead,” said Mr Mulholland. “Of course, these were vital moments which were lost potentially in saving her life.

“When they arrived at the unit she was unresponsive. Somewhere in the region of an hour had elapsed.”

Mr Mulholland said Chloe had a difficult upbringing. Her parents parted when she was nine or 10. She took the break-up badly and blamed her mother without any real justification.

She and her brother were split up for a while. She initially lived with her mother but then went to stay with her father about three years before her death.

Chloe took cannabis and amphetamine while at school. A friend noticed her consumption of drugs had increased.

Mr Mulholland said it was clear that by the start of last year drug-taking had become a normal feature of their relationship.

A medical expert’s opinion was that had Chloe been rushed to hospital after she began to feel unwell at home medical help would have been able to stabilise her.

“That opportunity was denied to her by the actions of her father,” said Mr Mulholland.

“Consequently, that failure played a substantial part in her subsequent death.

“We submit this represented a complete breakdown or failure in parental responsibility.”

The court heard Wilkes had served a prison sentence in 1993 and had a conviction for possessing drugs in 1995.

Judge Statman said: “All parents fear a situation where their adolescent teenage boys and girls go to a party and engage in drug-taking. They may have suspicions something is wrong.

“That is one situation that will worry all right-thinking parents. The distinction here is there is a share of the drug father to daughter in the confines of the home where there is an ability to have control over what is going on.

“All parents fear a situation where their adolescent teenage boys and girls go to a party and engage in drug-taking" - Judge Philip Statman

“This is a very different state of affairs that this activity is encouraged, whether one is coming up to her 18th birthday or not.”

Mr Mulholland replied: “There is actual encouragement by father to daughter to take Class A drugs. There is a positive enthusiasm which is wholly different from a normal parental relationship.”

The judge added: “What concerns me is an individual who is well familiar with ecstasy and drug culture and knows well fine the symptoms of an overdose in regard to MDMA...what possible reason could there have been for taking the route he did having left home to the time when an ambulance was eventually called?

“She is unwell clearly at the home address. Why didn’t he take her straight to hospital?”

Mark Weekes, defending, said Wilkes would not necessarily have an appreciation of what would flow from the situation.

Speaking during the sentencing this afternoon, Judge Philip Statman told Wilkes: “Over and above whatever sentence I impose upon you today you will lead the rest of your life knowing your conduct led to the death of your daughter who, in my judgement, you loved. “That is an enormous burden for you to have to carry with you. It is not just your burden, it is the fact she is lost to her mother and brother and extended family - a life tragically cut short.”