A 12-year-old boy is lucky to be alive after taking one ecstacy tablet which left him crticially ill. The youngster is now recovering at home after emergency treatment at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital.

But he spent four days in hospital after being given the drug by a 19-year-old man who now faces a jail sentence.

Martin Joyce-Cooper, who lives at Howe Barracks and is the stepson of a serving soldier, admitted supplying a Class A drug when he appeared before Canterbury magistrates this week. The case was adjourned for him to be sentenced at the Crown Court and he was given bail.

The incident has highlighted the deadly potential of the drug which is widely used by young people in the city.

In court, Paul Chamberlain, prosecuting, told magistrates how the incident happened on Saturday evening after Joyce-Cooper claimed to have found a bag of ecstacy tablets by the perimeter fence of the barracks.

Joyce-Cooper told police the boy had asked to take a tablet and he had first given him half followed by the other half shortly after. The alarm was raised soon afterwards when the youngster began to drift in and out of consciousness and began overheating.

He was driven to the hospital casualty department where doctors administered emergency treatment to counteract the effects of the drug.

Martyn Hewitt, for Joyce-Cooper, said his client had splashed the boy's face with water when it became apparent he was getting too hot.

Mr Chamberlain advised the court against releasing the 19-year-old on bail, saying that feelings against him were "running high" at the barracks. But he was granted bail on the condition that he did not contact the boy or his family.

One angry mother told the Kentish Gazette that several young teenagers had been together when the boy took the drug and had told what happened.

Insp Ray Carver, of Canterbury police, said: "This lad was very lucky indeed because taking these sort of drugs is like playing Russian roulette. They can have no apparent affect or someone can take just one tablet and be critically ill. It is that indiscriminate.

"Canterbury police is committed to tackling illegal drugs and a key aspect of our policing plan for the coming year is to target dealers."