A Masterton man has admitted to supplying a fatal dose of methadone to a teenager in the town.
Daniel Ewen, 38, pleaded guilty in High Court in Wellington to one charge of supplying a class B controlled drug.
Ewen was on the methadone programme and had a small amount of the drug at his home to use when he couldn't travel to a pharmacy for his regular dose.
On 17 October last year, Ewen put some methadone into a syringe and a 17-year-old friend of his son consumed it orally.
The boy was found dead the next morning.
A toxicology report showed the boy had sufficient methadone in his body to kill him.
The Crown on Monday withdrew a manslaughter charge against Daniel Ewen.
He has been remanded on bail to be sentenced on 19 September.
