A Canberra Uni Student Blew up His Dorm Room Trying to Cook MDMA

Emergency services were called to the University of Canberra at about 8pm on Tuesday night following reports that there’d been an explosion on campus. Paramedics rushed a 19-year-old man by the name of Miles Dorian Whitty to hospital, and when police searched his room they found a large quantity of chemicals, drug-related paraphernalia, and a notebook containing the formula for MDMA.

Authorities have connected the dots here, and they suspect that Miles—a science student at the university—might’ve been cooking molly. According to a statement by the AFP, the teen was using his dorm as a kind of “clandestine laboratory”, where he was probably whipping up MDMA in crystal form. He has since been arrested at hospital and charged with one count of Manufacturing a Controlled Drug.

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Miles appeared briefly before the ACT Magistrates Court today, where it was explained that he himself contacted paramedics after inhaling a noxious gas on Tuesday afternoon, Fairfax reports. When contacted by campus security, Miles reportedly told them that he’d had a “chemistry accident”. He has now been taken to hospital for a mental health assessment.

The court also heard that when officers entered Miles’ room at Cooper Lodge they found the ingredients for manufacturing ecstasy, the student’s notebook, and evidence of a chemical explosion. Residents of the student accommodation were reportedly evacuated throughout Tuesday night, and on Wednesday morning emergency crews in hazmat gear arrived on campus.

The bomb squad, clandestine laboratory team, and ACT Government analytical laboratory members have since been called in, and are still working at the scene, according to court documents. Miles is set to reappear in court later this month.