A HEARTBROKEN couple today spoke of their torment after watching their teenage daughter die from paracetamol poisoning.

Fun-loving Toni Gowland, 17, was almost paralysed, unable to talk or walk, when she died after taking painkillers following dental treatment.

Toni started feeling unwell last Tuesday evening, complaining of flu-like symptoms.

Just over 24 hours later she died in the intensive care unit, in St James's Hospital, Leeds, after her kidneys, liver and heart gave up the fight.

Her devastated parents, Alan and Tracey Gowland, both 36, found three empty strips and two empty containers of paracetamol. They had contained a total of 56 tablets.

At the inquest opening, a post-mortem examination revealed Toni died of multi-organ failure due to paracetamol poisoning.

A Selby police spokesman said they had made inquiries following rumours that Toni may have taken an Ecstasy tablet at a nightclub, but no trace was found during the post-mortem examination.

Today, Mr and Mrs Gowland warned other parents about the dangers of youngsters exceeding the prescribed amounts of paracetamol.

Speaking at their home at Brotherton, near Selby, they said: "Paracetamol can kill, and we don't want other families to experience what we've been through.

"Watching your daughter die such an horrific death at that age is unreal.

"Toni was just a normal happy teenager who loved singing, dancing and partying. We can't believe she's gone.

"We keep expecting her to walk through the door with a cheeky grin on her face."

They said the Ecstasy rumours sweeping through the village were totally without foundation.

Mr Gowland, a cable layer, said: "Toni was very anti-drugs and very streetwise.

"A few days before she died she had quite a lot of teeth extracted to make space for a brace, which she had fitted in hospital last Monday.

"The following day she started feeling sick. Her arms and legs were aching, she kept going hot and cold and became delirious.

"We didn't know then that the damage had already been done and it was too late to save her."

Mrs Gowland said: "Up to Tuesday Toni had been her usual happy self and was really looking forward to Christmas.

"She had just had an interview for a new job as a receptionist in a solicitors' office and had bought some new clothes and trainers."

It was in those new clothes and trainers that former Sherburn High School pupil Toni was buried just a few days ago.

The couple have a younger daughter, Leigh, 11, and a son, Kyle, 12.

Mrs Gowland added: "It's a living nightmare, but we have to be strong for Leigh and Kyle."

- The correct paracetamol dosage for adults and children over 12 is one to two tablets every four hours up to four times a day.

Users of paracetamol should not take more than 8 tablets in any 24-hour period.

Paracetamol should not be taken for longer than three days without consulting a doctor or pharmacist.

Updated: 11:54 Wednesday, November 20, 2002