An Erskine man accused of supplying a tragic teenager with a hallucinogenic drug shortly before the youngster was found dead faces being locked up.

Jack McNaught, 19, was alleged to have supplied the class-A drug to Owen MacDonald just hours before the 16-year-old’s body was discovered.

A major police investigation was launched after Owen was found dead on waste ground near Erskine’s Park Mains High School in the early hours of April 30 last year.

During the probe, police linked Owen’s death to the illness of another 16-year-old boy who had been admitted to hospital after taking acid.

The details emerged when McNaught appeared in the dock at Paisley Sheriff Court to plead guilty to drug dealing.

He admitted being caught with cannabis he intended to supply to others and supplying acid tablets to the boy who was hospitalised and another teenager, after prosecutors deleted claims he also supplied drugs to Owen.

McNaught first came to the attention of undercover police in March last year while standing next to a car near a bowling club in Erskine.

Officers found drugs with a total value of £220 hidden under the driver’s seat.

Five weeks later, McNaught was dealing class-A drugs to two 16-year-old boys, who can’t be named for legal reasons.

Procurator fiscal depute Pamela Brady said three males went to McNaught’s home in Johnshaven, Erskine, on April 29 last year.

She added: “In the early hours of April 30, a transaction has taken place whereby [two 16-year-olds] have purchased what is colloquially known as ‘acid tabs’ from Jack McNaught – a class-A drug.

“Both males each handed £20 to Jack McNaught and in return each was given three of these acid tabs.”

A short time later, one of the boys’ brothers received a phone call to say he was acting “bizarrely” and went to collect him in his car.

Mrs Brady told the court that the boy “seemed to be fitting.”

She said: “The other boy had taken two of the acid tabs and initially experienced hallucinations and fairly positive feelings but thereafter could remember nothing until he woke up in bed the next morning.

“[The other boy] was taken home by his brother. His condition was causing concern and an ambulance was called and he was taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital.

“He was seen by medical staff and assessed by a consultant anaesthetist. His condition caused such concern he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit, where he was sedated and incubated to assist breathing as they were concerned about his consciousness level.”

Around the same time that the boy was being treated in hospital, Owen was found dead by passers-by.

Mrs Brady said: “The post-mortem and toxicology result were unclear and the cause of death was recorded as ‘unascertained’ but there was a view after the investigation and examination that it had the hallmarks of a drug-related death.”

Defence solicitor Jonathan Manson said McNaught was a first offender with “a good job and a good future in front of him.”

He added: “He had no dealings with the other boy who was thereafter found deceased. He didn’t see that boy. I wish to make it quite clear he had no transaction with that particular boy.

“This has caused him a significant amount of stress and anxiety.”

McNaught could be caged for as long as five years for the offences when he is sentenced next month.