SITTARD - Sittarden resident Dwayne F. (25) should serve eight years in prison for selling'life-threatening' ecstasy pills. That is the opinion of the public prosecutor in Maastricht.

Contaminated ecstasy pills caused four deaths in South Limburg late last year and early this year. F. has been linked only to the death of 20-year-old Josien van Gastel, the fourth victim. She died in late March after using the beige pills with a three-leaf clover. After her death, F. sold four more pills to two customers. The prosecution accuses F. of selling the ecstasy pills while he knew the hard drug was bad.

The media paid plenty of attention to the beige pills containing the substance PMMA before Josien's death. He also received a text message from a customer, warning him that the clover pills had already claimed several lives. The prosecution believes that F. should not have sold the pills without warning from then on. But he did so anyway. Dwayne F. let it be known that he was not aware of the danger. Josien van Gastel's boyfriend had bought the pills. He stated that they had both swallowed ten pills within twelve hours. They also used alcohol and speed in between. "Josien's friend said that she was not a practiced user and that they would never have done this if they had thought carefully," said attorney Floor Oehlen, F. Opinions on the harmfulness of PMMA vary. Justice is convinced that the substance is harmful and can cause death. In addition, it slows down the effects of ecstasy. Besides F., his girlfriend Tiana L. (19) also had to appear in court yesterday. She arranged an xtc-deal between her boyfriend and a friend of hers three months after Josien's death. This involved the same clover pills. She was charged with 240 hours of community service and nine months of suspended imprisonment.