THREE people have been charged with drugs offences following the death of a North-East teenager earlier this year.

Two men and a woman are due to appear before Teesside Magistrates' Court today, charged with supplying drugs.

Lilli Brown, of Stockton, Teesside, was found dead on January 2 after taking a suspected heroin overdose.

The seventeen-year-old, who was a former pupil of Blakeston Secondary School, Stockton, was due to start a job in business administration with Stockton Borough Council.

Her mother, Helgi Brown, said yesterday that she had asked police to be allowed to visit the scene of Lilli's death - a house in North Port Road, Portrack, Stockton, which is now boarded up.

She said: "I just want to see the place where she spent her final hours.

"Some people might think that is strange, but I need to visit that house, just to try and understand why Lilli was there."

Mrs Brown said that she was struggling to come to terms with her loss.

She said: "It has been two months and, when the phone rings, I still think it is going to be her.

"When the front doorbell rings I think it is Lilli and she has forgotten her keys. I can't understand why she is not here.

"Lilli was a beautiful girl, with everything to live for. Everyone who knew her loved her."

Lilli, from the Roseworth area of Stockton, was an exceptional sportswoman, who represented Stockton at netball, tennis and cross-country running.

Hundreds of people lined the streets to pay their respects at Lilli's funeral, in January