Jay Conway, the drug dealer who supplied the ecstasy that killed his 16-year-old girlfriend at a house party, has been freed from jail less than halfway through his sentence. The 21-year-old apprentice plumber from Dundee was jailed for 15 months in January for supplying the Class A drug on the night Lennix Hughes died.
Early release under overcrowding scheme
Conway was freed in late May under the early release scheme, after serving four months of his sentence. The Scottish Prison Service has confirmed he is no longer in custody. The scheme was introduced to tackle prison overcrowding, allowing short-term offenders to be released after serving 50 per cent of their sentence.
Fatal night in Dundee
Lennix, a schoolgirl, died after ingesting wraps of MDMA given to her by Conway at his home in Dundee in March 2023. Paramedics tried to save her, but she was pronounced dead at Ninewells Hospital. A police raid on Conway's home in Dudhope Gardens found £200 in cash, scales, and grinders, showing his involvement in cannabis distribution. He had bought 3.5g of MDMA powder and invited friends over for a "Mandy session".
On the night of March 3, Conway and a friend were "bombing" MDMA by wrapping the powder in cigarette paper and swallowing it. Lennix arrived at around 2.10am and asked if she could take some. She made several "bombs" and swallowed them. Friends told police they encouraged her to stop as she was taking them quickly. She became "manifestly unwell", her jaw locked, and she began convulsing before stopping breathing. A post-mortem found a "high quantity" of MDMA in her system, with four wraps in her stomach.
Sentencing remarks
Conway also admitted supplying cannabis in a "sophisticated operation" over two months. His phones showed evidence of drug dealing, including a group chat on Telegram. At sentencing, Sheriff Niven-Smith said: "There is something I wish to say for the family and friends of Miss Hughes who died as a result of the ingestion of ecstasy you provided to her. She was vulnerable, 16 at the time, and you were 18. As a matter of public record I am not sentencing you for culpable homicide, nor for culpable and reckless conduct. I must not allow the tragic death of Lennix Hughes to influence my decision on sentencing here as that would be to err in law."
