DANIELLE Magee had just dropped her two young kids at school when she got a call that changed her life – the father of her children was dead.
Her ex, Ellis Gorman had been found laying in bed at a friend’s flat after he unwittingly gulped down a fatal dose of liquid morphine from a Lucozade bottle. Now Danielle is desperate for answers – and is campaigning for a change in law.
Ellis Gorman died in January from an apparent drug overdoseCredit: Supplied
Ellis with ex-partner Danielle Magee and their children, Gracie and Ellis JrCredit: Supplied
Ellis, who worked as a plumber, was just 32 when he diedCredit: Supplied
Danielle, 32, a nurse, had separated from her childhood sweetheart, Ellis, but the pair were still friends and doting co-parents to their two kids, Ellis Jr., 8, and Gracie,
And at 9.30am on January 22, she received a chilling phone call from her ex-partner’s mum.
She’d just dropped the children off at school and then went to the property in Darwen, , where Ellis had been found.
With and paramedics still on the scene, Danielle went inside the house and saw Ellis.
By his bedside, a Lucozade bottle was found – from which he is believed to have drunk the morphine, Danielle tells The Sun.
The two had known each other since they were ten-years-old – but had split in 2022.
Danielle had spoken to Ellis, also 32, just two days before, while he played a game over Snapchat with their daughter Gracie.
And she now wants answers as to how Ellis died, and how he obtained the morphine.
Shockingly, Danielle says she has been told that the morphine given to Ellis may have been stolen from a cancer patient.
Police around the country have previously warned about the theft of the drug from healthcare settings.
Morphine is a Class A drug and a strictly controlled substance – but it is available by prescription.
However, there appears to be an emerging black market for the drug, with reports of it being stolen from chemists, hospitals, ambulances, and even terminal cancer patients.
Liquid morphine – or Oramorph – is a painkiller that should only be taken in small doses.
Ellis died from respiratory depression – a fatal side effect of overconsumption of opioids like morphine.
Danielle tells The Sun: “It’s dropped his respiration rate. That’s what’s killed him.”
Remembering that fateful morning, she went on: “I went straight to the house where he passed away. I got the call from his mum.
“Police and ambulance were there. There were a lot of people standing outside. I said ‘I’m going inside’ – I’ve known him since I was 10.”
Ellis’ time of death was officially recorded at 10.15am, when the lead detective arrived, but Danielle thinks he’d passed away hours earlier – and was likely in distress for some time before 999 was called.
Nurse Danielle says he could have been saved if 999 was called soonerCredit: Supplied
Ellis and Danielle’s children, Gracie and Ellis Jr., at his funeralCredit: Supplied
She says the coroner’s office has told her a toxicology analysis has since confirmed Ellis had fatal amounts of morphine in his body at the time of death.
This was reportedly mixed with a prescription drug, which he’d been using on and off for years after breaking his ankle.
Area Coroner Kate Bisset said at the opening of Ellis’s inquest earlier this month, “there was evidence to suggest had led to his death”.
A final inquest will be held on June 3.
His death had come after something of a whirlwind of partying and late nights following his release from in early 2025, Danielle says.
He was a really good dad, I couldn’t fault him, he did everything with them – anything they asked
Danielle
She tells the Sun: “He was hanging around with the wrong people.
“He didn’t take morphine – it wasn’t a daily thing.
“It was only a one-off because it was there.
“And because he’s p****d up, he’s obviously taken it. Everything is a bit sketchy.”
‘It could have been preventable’
To add to the tragedy, Danielle says Ellis’ overdose shouldn’t have necessarily been fatal – had he got to the hospital immediately – he may have survived.
She is now around the need to call 999 in a medical emergency.
The petition states: “We are calling for a change in UK to introduce a legal duty requiring individuals to call emergency services when they witness someone in clear, life‑threatening medical distress.”
Danielle tells The Sun: “I’m not blaming anybody, but it could have been preventable.”
Opiate overdoses – which include fentanyl, morphine and heroin – can be treated with naloxone, a rapid-acting medication which blocks opioid receptors.
Danielle said Ellis was a devoted dadCredit: Supplied
Ellis with his two children, who he’d spoken to just a couple of days before his deathCredit: Supplied
Danielle and Ellis separated in 2022 but remained close for their childrenCredit: Supplied
Danielle claims she was told the morphine that Ellis took had been stolen from a cancer patient the dealer had access to.
Danielle, who grew up in Darwen but now lives in Blackburn, claims since Ellis’ death, several other people have come forward to her saying they’d bought morphine from the same dealer.
Coroners have warned about liquid morphine’s growing recreational usage – and have highlighted the dangers of its usage.
After Ellis’ death, Danielle went to his parents’ house and they began arranging his and other arrangements.
‘He was a really good dad’
“He was a really good dad, I couldn’t fault him, he did everything with them – anything they asked.”
The couple had been childhood sweethearts but split in 2022 after he went to prison.
Danielle says the last time she spoke to him was two days before he died when he was on a video call with their daughter, Gracie, aged 12.
“They were playing a game on together,” she explains.
“They were on the phone for over an hour. I spoke to him then, and I spoke to him a couple of days before when I saw him out in Darwen.”
“We had a brilliant relationship despite everything.”
Danielle says their son Ellis Jr turned eight just days after his dad died.
“He looks exactly like him and acts like him,” she adds. “Long eyelashes and everything.
“He keeps coming out with things like: ‘Why can’t I just go and see him?’ It’s heartbreaking.”
A spokesperson for drug WithYou said: “The risk of someone becoming dependent on illicitly obtained opiates is significant, therefore we encourage anyone who is using morphine illicitly to reach out for support.
“If an overdose is suspected, regardless of the drug involved, naloxone should be administered if available, and 999 should be called.
“Naloxone reverses the effects of opioid drugs like heroin, morphine and fentanyl and drugs bought illicitly can contain a mixture of substances, including opioids.
“Administering naloxone to treat an overdose won’t harm someone, but it may save their life.”
The Sun has approached Lancashire Police and Lancashire Coroners Office for comment.
To see Danielle’s petition click here.
Morphine thefts in the UK
WARNINGS have been issued by police amid reports of thefts of morphine by criminals intending to sell it to drug usters.
The thefts of morphine reported on in recent years are primarily linked to healthcare settings, with reports of the drug being stolen from delivery vehicles, hospitals, hospices, pharmacies and terminally patients’ homes by staff or during break-ins.
In December last year police in South Tyneside warned the public not to take morphine stolen during a break-in at Boustead Chemist in Jarrow.
Northumbria Police Supt Lynne Colledge said the drugs could be dangerous to anyone who takes them.
“Unless you have been properly prescribed medication by your doctor or your pharmacy, you can never be sure what substances contain and what impact they could have on you,” she said.
“It is important that any medication which is found is disposed of in a safe manner and not left in public.”
In January 2022 two paramedics Ruth Lambert and Jessica Silvester were jailed for stealing medication , including morphine, from terminally ill patients.
The pair, employed by South East Coast Ambulance Service, accessed addresses of patients through their work and posed as nurses to collect the medication.
Meanwhile, former nurse Jessica Clack was struck off the register last year for stealing morphine from St Wilfrid’s Hospice in East Sussex, reports The Argus .
In 2021, paramedic Elisa Stevens was struck off after being found injecting herself in the hospital toilets – and admitted taking the drug after a Yorkshire Ambulance Service probe found 67 vials unaccounted for over seven months, reports the BBC .
In January last year packages of morphine, tramadol and insulin were stolen from a car delivering the medication to a pharmacy in Middlesbrough, Cleveland Police warned, .
In April 2024, trainee anaesthetist Jonathan Dean was jailed for stealing drugs , including morphine, so he could inject his girlfriend with them during sex.
The then-32-year-old stole the meds from Whipps Cross Hospital in east London in December 2018, with Judge Philip Grey telling him he was “playing God”.
He said the offending was about “wanting chemically enhanced sex and being in a position of dominance and power”.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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