THE mother of a young man who died in Blandford after apparently taking ecstasy says she hopes his death will shock other youngsters into giving up the drug.

Charlie Ridout, 21, who lived in the Plocks, was discovered at an address in West Street last week. His mother, Liz Curtis from Shaftesbury, said Saturday, October 16, was his "one final fling" with drugs before he got back on the straight and narrow - but he was found dead in the early hours of the next morning.

She told the Daily Echo he was planning to move to Cornwall the following Monday in a bid to give up drugs and eventually train to become a bodyguard.

And she described Charlie as having been a "gorgeous little boy" who was, up until the age of nine, a keen ballet dancer who won dozens of trophies.

Charlie, who went to school in Shillingstone, gave up before taking his GCSEs and his mother said he started to dabble in drugs when he was aged just 16. He went on to work for the charity Enable - raising money for disabled children in India - and was keen to go out there and work.

Liz said: "The last e-mail he sent to his aunt suggested he had finally turned his life around, everything had gone so badly in previous months and he'd been getting into trouble. But in the e-mail he said he knew he had upset everybody and he understood how I felt. He said he was going away and that in a couple of years we would all be proud of him again.

"I didn't believe it when the policeman came to tell me he'd died, I thought it must be a big wind-up.

"I always wanted Charlie to have the biggest shock of his life to scare him into stopping taking the drugs, I wanted him to end up in hospital but not this. I hope his death will give other drug users in the town the shock of their lives.

"Charlie never thought this would happen to him - he thought he was immortal.

"He had the gift of the gab, he was a real charmer. We don't think he's gone through the gates of heaven yet - he's waiting for my mum to get there and give him a clip around the ear before giving him a big hug."

Charlie's funeral takes place at Poole Crematorium tomorrow at 10.30am.

The family have asked for donations to be sent to Enable - the charity Charlie supported.

First published: October 27