World News

[Anonymous]

Dealer breaks his silence in letter to Guardian
Notorious Chorley drug dealer, Stephen Norris, has broken his silence after being jailed for eight years following one of the town's biggest police investigations.
In a four-page handwritten letter from his cell at Preston Prison, the 42-year-old had claimed he was the victim of a police conspiracy and that rather than dealing drugs, he was simply selling cut price tobacco from his home in Brindle Street.

Norris' girlfriend Andrea Chlond, 29, who was pregnant at the time of her arrest, was jailed for seven years after pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy to Class A drugs while Frank Marsden, 37, who also lived on Brindle Street, got five years and eight months for drugs offences.

However, in a poorly spelt letter to Guardian reporter Sam Chadderton, 'Nogger' Norris, claimed he had been under surveillance since 1996.

He wrote: "You have only heard one side and that's the police. What they don't tell you is that a lot of the callers that called in during the time that the cameras were running, they could not identify because they were not drug users."

Norris claims that he has been selling tobacco and cigarettes for a decade.

"OK, some of the people that came to my home did use drugs, the odd one or two of them, but don't forget they cannot afford tobacco out of the shops. I sold the same thing for £4.50."

He also mentions that he used to run a business on Pall Mall called Del Boys.

"It was a second hand shop - if they (the police) thought I was selling drugs why not watch the shop?"

The convicted dealer - believed by police to be one of Chorley's most prolific criminals - continues to protest his innocence, saying the hours of video footage never show him in the infamous alleyway next to his house where the drugs were stashed.

He says: "It does not show me going down the alleyway picking anything up.

"Even though Andrea (Chlond) was a user she bought it for herself and no-one else and I would not let her keep it in our house because of the children.

Andrea Chlond
"There were no drugs coming from 30 Brindle Street. There was nothing going on and we have been set up. The sentences we were given were well over the top."

Norris invited Guardian reporter Sam Chadderton into prison for a face-to-face meeting, but prison officials said that wasn't possible.

As for Chlond being pregnant, Norris said: "At the time of our arrest Chlond was only four months pregnant and only on methadone which you can check."

He signed off his letter by saying: "I just thought you would like to know the truth."

Sgt Alan Acheson was one of the investigating officers on the case and responded to the contents of the letter: "He was suspected of dealing drugs for years and years and I know that previous warrants were executed but I couldn't say what was recovered.

"It could well be that nothing was found, because our surveillance showed that the top and bottom of it was that he didn't keep the drugs in his house."

As for the lengthy sentence Sgt Acheson said he wasn't surprised by the eight-year verdict. "I'm not surprised he's bitter either about the sentence, but judges will give credit and Norris dragged the case through nearly two years of court time."

Sgt Acheson dismissed the claims of a conspiracy and said: "How could we set up the months and months of footage, the 800 plus callers and plant the drugs? There was no conspiracy or set-up.

"I have a card on my desk that says something like 'thank you to everyone involved in nailing Norris. It couldn't have happened to a nicer person. From a satisfied Chorley resident'."

Norris and Chlond are no longer connected to 30 Brindle Street.

http://thisischorley.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=81&ArticleID=2711794

[Anonymous]

Prison gets counselling team for 250 heroin addicts
18/04/2007 - 2:08:41 PM

Mountjoy Prison is to get a team of dedicated counsellors to treat the 250 inmates battling heroin addiction in the jail, it was revealed today.

Governor John Lonergan said around half the prison population were on a methadone programme.

“The figures highlight the volume of people who would be prescribed prescription methadone. The problem is of a massive scale,” he said.

And in a bid to to reduce the huge number of addicts four counsellors from Dublin’s Merchant Quay are to be brought in to work with the users.

“We have been in touch with Merchants Quay to arrange for three or four drug counsellors for Mountjoy,” Mr Lonergan said.

Contracts have been signed and the team is due to begin work in weeks.


At present the jail’s medical unit is full to capacity with up to 40 inmates being treated for heroin use – some of whom are on a complete detox while others are slowly being weaned off the drug.

Mr Lonergan said the problem of drugs being brought into the prison was as bad as ever with people throwing bags over the walls and he said this would only be solved when Mountjoy closed.

The governor also said staff were dealing with problems from other drugs with vast numbers of inmates regular cannabis users while many use sleeping pills, valium and prescription drugs to get high.

And he warned that the problem is far more difficult to deal with than many people believed.


http://www.thepost.ie/breakingnews/breaking_story.asp?j=291554050&p=z9y555xxx&n=291555037

[Anonymous]

Perfume thief is told to keep her nose clean
Apr 18 2007

A SINGLE mum has been warned to keep out of trouble or face going to jail.

Recovering addict Lynette Robertson stole three bottles of perfume from Debenhams in Ayr Central shopping centre.

Robertson, 28, of Victoria Street, Ayr, was caught outside by store security staff and ended up in the dock at Ayr Sheriff Court this week.

She had earlier pleaded guilty to stealing the perfume from the store in March this year.

Before sentence was passed, Robertson’s lawyer, Ian Gillies, told the court how his client had a bad criminal record.

But Mr Gillies added: “She’s maybe through the worst of her addiction now and is on a methadone programme. This appears to have just been a blip.”


Sheriff John Montgomery said he wanted to keep the eye of the court over Robertson to ascertain whether the shoplifting was an isolated incident.


He deferred sentence on her for six months to be of good behaviour and told her: “If you re-offend you will be going to jail.”

http://icayrshire.icnetwork.co.uk/ayrshirepost/news/tm_headline=perfume-thief-is-told-to-keep-her-nose-clean%26method=full%26objectid=18922955%26siteid=73592-name_page.html#story_continue

[Anonymous]

DRUG DEALER IS CAGED
A DRUG dealer who supplied methadone which killed a "fit and healthy" sports fanatic has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.

Adam Wilson hung his head as he learned his fate at Nottingham Crown Court yesterday after admitting manslaughter and supplying a Class A drug.

The 27-year-old supplied the drug to Ryan Farnsworth, from Yew Tree Road, Hatton, and his girlfriend, Natalie Tyers, of Hilton, on July 29 last year.

Both dangerously mixed alcohol with the drug, resulting in Mr Farnsworth's death. He had just celebrated his 24th birthday.

The court was told Ms Tyers has endured heart and hearing problems due to oxygen starvation since the incident.

Jeremy Janes, prosecuting, told the court that on July 28, all three had taken an undisclosed amount of ecstasy before heading to the Hilton Brook pub in the early evening.

The night was supposed to be a leaving celebration for Ms Tyers, who was due to go out and work as a representative in Tenerife over the summer months.

After several drinks and a trip to a friend's house, the trio eventually ended up in a beauty spot in Wootton, near Ashbourne, at around 3am and were said to be in "high spirits".

Wilson, who was prescribed methadone to help him overcome a heroin addiction, offered the synthetic drug to his friends as he thought it would ease the effects of the ecstasy.

The pair, who each had around 50 millilitres of Methadone, became comatose due to the effects of mixing alcohol with the drug. They started 'snoring', and Wilson thought they had fallen asleep.

However, the noises were being made due to the couple's blocked airways.

Wilson lifted the couple into his car and drove to the King's Head pub, in Main Street, Hilton, at around 5.30am.

Later in the morning, while the duo were still 'sleeping' in his vehicle in the car park of the pub, Wilson went into the premises for drinks with a friend

When they came out at noon, they realised Mr Farnsworth's lips had turned blue and began to worry.

The couple were taken to the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary, in Derby, where Mr Farnsworth was pronounced dead.

Mr Janes said of Mr Farnsworth: "He was fit, healthy and loved playing sport."

Andy Easteal, defending, told the court that Wilson, of Kidlington, Oxfordshire, was "haunted" by the incident and was genuinely remorseful.

He said: "When Wilson supplied methadone, there was no sinister motive or malevolence. His aim was to reduce the come-down from the ecstasy tablets they had taken.

"He feels genuinely haunted, and will do for the rest of his life. He feels he has ruined the lives of everyone who knew Ryan and feels it is right he is the focus of their anger."

Since the incident, Wilson, who handed himself into the police, has stopped taking drugs.

Judge John Milmo said more warnings should be put on methadone telling people of the risks of mixing the drug with alcohol.

Addressing Wilson, he said: "It is quite clear the events of July 29 have been devastating for Ryan's family. It is little wonder that in reports, Ms Tyers said she hated you.

"You were in legitimate possession of methadone, and gave it to Ryan. He took some and died. This could have been avoided and you will continue to be haunted."

Wilson was told he would spend four-and-a-half years in jail for manslaughter and three for supplying the drug, to run concurrently.

This means he will have to serve a total of four-and-a-half years behind bars.

http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/detail.asp?id=7475795&cat=General%20News

[Melis11577]

Methadone victim's family sues clinic, doctors
Monday, 12:30 p.m.

By SEAN McKIBBON, SUN MEDIA

Parents of a man who died of a methadone overdose administered by accident at a downtown addiction treatment clinic are seeking a half-million dollars in damages in a lawsuit.

The statement of claim filed April 24 by Linda and Douglas Hatt, and on behalf of their son Wade Lamont Hatt, names as defendants the Ontario Addiction Treatment Centres and a number of doctors and nurses connected with the centre.

Hatt died Oct. 15, 2005 after attending the OATC methadone clinic on Somerset St. with his girlfriend. The statement of claim alleges negligence on the part of the OATC for among other things "failing to implement a protocol at the clinic which was effective to minimize the risk of dispensing the wrong dose to a patient," and "failing to require that the methadone be dispensed by a licenced pharmacist and/or by a medical doctor who had received special training in dispensing methadone."

Statements of claim contain allegations which have not been proven in court.

A coroner's inquest into the incident heard that Hatt died after mistakenly taking his girlfriend Julie Maloney's 10-times-stronger dose of methadone during a trip to the Centretown clinic.


Despite being advised that he should seek medical attention, Hatt chose not to go to hospital and died in his sleep at home.

At the inquest, lawyers for the OATC argued cocaine use may have played a role in killing Hatt, but the jury did not list cocaine as a cause of Hatt's death.

Recurring themes in the jury recommendations following the inquest were measures to ensure patient's methadone doses aren't mixed up and the need to strongly communicate to patients the need for medical attention.

Many of those recommended measures appear to form the basis of allegations of negligence in the statement of claim.

No defence has yet been filed.

http://ottsun.canoe.ca/News/BreakingNews/2007/04/30/4142303.html
_________________


www.renato-capozzo.memory-of.com
www.HARMD.org

[Melis11577]

Call for rethink on drugs policy

Susan Deacon is calling for a wide-ranging debate on drugs
A former health minister is calling for a radical rethink on drugs policy.
Former Labour MSP, Susan Deacon, who is not standing for re-election, said politicians from all parties should stop talking tough on drugs.

She said emphasising law enforcement gets in the way of seeking other approaches through education and the health service.

Ms Deacon wants to see better education programmes and a wider range of treatments to be made available.

"It's not rocket science to say we need a range of policies and services available to respond to different needs," she told BBC Scotland.

"The idea there is one type of treatment that works and one that doesn't is nonsensical.

"I think one of the big challenges that lies ahead is to ensure you have a range of treatment options available, not just for opiates like heroin but for the whole range of drug and substance misuse problems we have in society."

Methadone use

Ms Deacon called for a review of the use of methadone.

"There is some evidence that in Scotland there has been more widespread use and dependence on methadone so the idea of looking at this is eminently sensible," she said.

Ms Deacon called for a wide-ranging debate on the drugs problem, but said talking tough was not effective.

She said: "I think there is a very, very genuine commitment by a wide range of politicians and parties to try and do something meaningful about drugs.


This is a problem quite literally tearing the heart out of Scotland

Prof Neil McKeganey
Centre for Drugs Misuse Research

"The difficulty often translates into some pretty rough rhetoric and sometimes good ideas but not really a wide-ranging, informed and comprehensive policy approach to the issue.

"Looking and talking tough isn't necessarily about being effective. The real concern is that kind of emphasis has skewed investment and policy."

She added that one of the main problems was that that large numbers of people are being criminalised while many others, who need treatment, are not receiving it.

"There must be a more informed, measured approach to this debate to make progress in the future," she said.

Scotland has one of the worst drug problems in Europe.

There are thought to be 50,000 drug users in Scotland - about 1% of the population - and 20,000 on the methadone programme.

'Dangerous perception'

Professor Neil McKeganey, from the Centre for Drugs Misuse Research at Glasgow University, said 85%-90% of drug addicts on treatment were on methadone.

"I don't think it's actually been as successful as its main proponents have thought," he said.

"I think we've lost sight of the idea of getting addicts off drugs.


About 20,000 drug users are currently taking methadone

"The focus has been 'let's stop them committing crime' and that's the main response to the drug problem and frankly it's not good enough for addicts, their families and Scotland."

Prof McKeganey said the vast majority of people on the methadone programme were out of work, still committing crimes and still using illegal drugs.

"We should have continuous public education campaigns in quite stark terms outlining the reality of drug addiction in young people's lives," he said.

He said Scotland's drugs policy needed to be a combination of enforcement and treatment and said the country should appoint a drugs minister.

"The single most dangerous perception we have about the drugs issue is that we've just now got to live with it," he added.

What we genuinely need is a commitment to an education program which links the abuse of drink and smoking to the abuse of drugs

Graeme Pearson
SCDEA

"This is a problem quite literally tearing the heart out of Scotland."

Graeme Pearson, director general of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, said there was evidence that methadone helped addicts stabilise their lives.

He said they were less likely to commit crime and pointed out that the number of problematic drug abusers in Scotland had fallen by 5,000 over the last five years.

Mr Pearson added: "We need to invest in these programs that are demonstrated to work, which in my terms means getting people off drugs and not maintaining them on drugs over long periods of time.

"What we genuinely need is a commitment to an education program which links the abuse of drink and smoking to the abuse of drugs because prisoners in Polmont prison tell me that its during that teenage period when they are abusing alcohol that they slip into the abuse of drugs."

Mr Pearson also called for teenagers to be given greater access to diversions like sport and music to keep them occupied and early intervention programs for those coming into contact with drugs for the first time.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/6605263.stm
_________________


www.renato-capozzo.memory-of.com
www.HARMD.org

[Anonymous]

Lori Culbert, CanWest News Service
Published: Monday, April 30, 2007


VANCOUVER -- The level of drugs in the partial remains of three women found on Robert (Willie) Pickton’s farm indicate they could have died of an overdose, and therefore were not killed by the accused, a defence lawyer suggested Monday.


"It’s entirely possible that Ms. (Andrea) Joesbury’s cause of death was a drug overdose?" Rick Brooks asked toxicologist Heather Dinn.


"The remains of Ms. (Sereena) Abotsway were analysed by you, and the drugs you detected ... were within the fatal range, and I suggest to you it is very possible that Ms. Abotsway, as well, succumbed to a drug overdose?" Brooks also asked.


He posed the same question about Dinn’s analysis at the RCMP forensic lab of the drugs in a third set of remains, which he identified as Mona Wilson’s.


In all three cases, Dinn insisted she didn’t have enough scientific information to agree with Brooks’ suggestions.


"It may or may not have been (fatal), I really can’t say," she replied about the level of drugs in Joesbury’s system. "Certainly these (drug levels) are high, but I cannot proceed on the opinion these were fatal."


The issue, she said, is that she was forced to test tissue from the hands, feet or face for the existence of drugs because the usual areas that are tested - the blood and the liver - were not available with these women.


"The exhibits in this case have such an unusual history," Dinn said. That included scientists not knowing how long the victims had been dead or how the remains were stored after death.


The court heard that the level of drugs in the three women’s remains that were within the fatal range had they been detected in their livers.


But Dinn said Brooks was comparing "apples and oranges" by suggesting those same drug levels could be fatal when found in tissue. That’s because, she said, there hasn’t been enough scientific study done to back up his theory.


"That is not logic that is correct, in my opinion," Dinn, a long-time forensic toxicologist, said in a testy exchange with Brooks, a veteran defence lawyer.


On the opening day of the trial, Crown prosecutor Derrill Prevett said prosecutors would prove to the jury that Joesbury, Abotsway and Wilson were shot in the head, and their partial remains were found in buckets on Pickton’s farm.


Pickton admits the partial remains of six women were found on his farm, but denies killing them.


On Monday, Dinn said she could determine from the tissue samples that Abotsway had cocaine in her system, and the other two had a combination of drugs including cocaine, methadone, speed and/or non-prescription drugs.


(Although methadone is often used in heroin maintenance programs, heroin was not found in any of the tissue samples, she said.)


However, she said the "data base is nil" for concluding when or how much of the drugs were taken by each victim.


She said it is possible that two of the victims used cocaine within 24 hours of their death, based on the fact that the drug - which is usually eliminated quickly from the body - was still present. But she cautioned, again, that analysing tissue didn’t give her results that she could consider precise.


Dinn also said tissue samples from each of the three women were sent to a lab in the U.S., which can test for the presence of anti-freeze in the body. None of the liquid was found, she said.


A forensic chemist at the RCMP lab testified earlier Monday that a bluish-green liquid inside a syringe in Pickton’s office was methanol - which is found in automobile windshield wiper fluid.


The Pickton jury members had heard about the syringe before, but had not received confirmation about the identity of the liquid inside until chemist Tony Fung testified Monday.


The issue is an important one for the Crown, as Pickton was told during an 11-hour police interrogation shortly after his arrest in February 2002 that the RCMP had a recording of an interview with his friend Scott Chubb, who allegedly made comments about Pickton and his use of windshield wiper fluid.


The recording was played for Pickton during the interrogation, which the jury could hear when they watched a videotape of the RCMP’s formal interview of Pickton on February 23, 2002.


Although the audio was poor, a male voice - which police said belonged to Chubb - could be heard in the courtroom alleging that Pickton once told him that a person could get rid of "junkies" by filling a syringe with windshield wiper fluid or radiator coolant, and then injecting them.


The speaker alleged that Pickton said no one would know the difference because junkies already have track marks and would think they died of an overdose.


Pickton sounded incredulous while listening to the recording during the interrogation, often repeating "What?" in a raised voice.


Under cross-examination Monday by defence lawyer Adrian Brooks, Fung agreed that he did not analyse how diluted by water the methanol in the syringe had been.


Pickton, now 57, was arrested Feb. 22, 2002. He now is facing 26 counts of first-degree murder.


This trial, now in its 13th week, is focusing on the deaths of six women: Abotsway, Wilson, Joesbury, Brenda Wolfe, Georgina Papin and Marnie Frey. A second trial on 20 charges is expected to be held later.


Pickton has pleaded not guilty to all charges.


Vancouver Sun


http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=1cd41b02-5a66-4941-b57e-69f31ea809d5&k=62361

[Anonymous]

Gran's heroin hell
May 2 2007

By Sophie Doughty, The Evening Chronicle

Their mum's life ended in a prison cell as she battled her drug demons.

But her mother is determined it will mark the start of a new life for her late daughter's children.

Following the death of troubled Kerry Devereux, her children are being looked after by her mother Helen.

And today she pledged to get Connor and Georgia away from Newacstle's West End and build them a new life away from the drug temptations which led to her own daughter's death.

Kerry, 32, died in prison in Derbyshire where she was serving a three year sentence for drugs offences.


Helen vowed to get Connor, 11, and Georgia, six, out of the city centre, to ensure they don't follow in their mother's footsteps.


Helen, 53, of Canning Street, in Benwell, Newcastle, said: "We are all devastated about what happened to Kerry. When the children get older I will explain what happened to their mam and make sure they learn from it."


Kerry first tried heroin at 21, and Helen, said: "She was a lovely little girl but got in with the wrong crowd and went off the rails.


"But I would always stand by her as she was my little girl. She was always troubled. She was so beautiful but she couldn't see that, she had no self-worth.


"She started hanging around with people who took heroin and tried it and was on it for years."


Like many addicts Kerry stole from her family to feed her habit, but her mum forgave her.


"She stripped my house bare and used to steal from others," she said. "But I knew it was the drugs and not her. It was a disease turning her into someone else."


Kerry did manage to get clean. With the help of methadone she kept off heroin and concentrated on being a mum.


But temptation was always there and as the single mum struggled, friends from her drug past were never far away.


And although she was able to resist the urge to start using again, the temptation to make a bit of extra cash was too much.


Helen said: "I begged her not to sell heroin, but she did to get a bit of extra money for her kids."


Kerry's family worried about her in prison but had no idea she would even contemplate taking her life.


"Nobody knew it was going to happen. It was out of the blue," said Helen. "She was depressed and lonely.


"She phoned the day before she died and said she had had enough, but I didn't think she meant that. I just said hang on, you have only got four months left and then you can come home. I can't believe she's gone."


Helen still blames heroin for the downward spiral that eventually led to her death.


"She was worried as heroin was still out there and the temptation is everywhere.


"When off heroin, she was our Kerry again. She could be the happiest and loveliest girl. I want everyone to see what that drug can do and make sure their kids don't go anywhere near it. I wish I could take Georgia and Connor and move miles away so they're not brought up here among the drug addicts and vandals."


Kerry's funeral is at Newcastle's West Road Crematorium tomorrow at 2.30pm.

http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/chroniclelive/eveningchronicle/tm_headline=gran-s-heroin-hell&method=full&objectid=19033163&siteid=50081-name_page.html

[Anonymous]

Addict Sentenced For Killing Her Baby
Updated: 09:07, Thursday May 03, 2007

A heroin addict who killed her baby son by giving him a methadone overdose is to be sentenced for the child's manslaughter today.

Gemma Fennelly: 'Not wicked'Gemma Fennelly, 24, confessed to allowing, or failing to prevent, 22-month-old Mitchell Bate from swallowing a lethal dose.

Previous court hearings were told that Fennelly gave the baby the drug in the weeks before his death in September 2005 to keep him quiet.

Traces of heroin and cocaine were found in hair samples taken from the boy after his death.


http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1263863,00.html

[Anonymous]

Drugs fear in alleys
May 3 2007

http://icseftonandwestlancs.icnetwork.co.uk/iccrosby/news/tm_headline=drugs-fear-in-alleys&method=full&objectid=19035252&siteid=60252-name_page.html


by Lyndsay Kohberg, Crosby Herald


TWO alleyways in Waterloo have become a dumping ground for drug containers and bottles of alcohol.

Residents say they have recently found an empty diazepam packet and what is believed to be a methadone bottle among other waste in alleys between St John’s Road, Sycamore Road and Fir Road.

They fear this could prove lethal to a youngster if any of the drugs happen to be left inside their containers.

Those living nearby are also forced to deal with alcohol bottles and cans, as well as dozens of cigarette butts discarded on the ground – a problem which escalates during a weekend.

Fred Beal, from Sycamore Road, said: “I found a packet from the chemist with a little plastic measuring glass in it.

Further on there was a bottle with the neck cracked.

“The person had left their name and address on it and they only live 200 yards away – why drink it down the entry?

“When the drug addicts go to the doctors and get their prescriptions in the week they take them in the chemist.

“They can’t do that on a Sunday so they get double issue and are supping it down the entries.

“It’s happening quite regularly over a weekend, if you go down there there’s empty vodka bottles and cider cans .

“I have a six- year-old granddaughter, what if she found one of the tablets or a little bit of fluid left in the bottle?

“They could think it’s pop, what happens then?”

Crosby Neighbourhood Inspector Dave Pryce said that PCSOs were sent to the alley and found it clear. He said: “What we will do is to have more PCSOs monitor it.”.

A council spokeswoman added: “The entries are cleaned regularly.

“Cleansing are paying special attention to the area and keeping it under review.”

[Anonymous]

'Bad' heroin ruled out as death cause
May 3 2007

By Kerry Beadling

A COVENTRY man originally thought to have died of "bad" heroin was killed by a lethal mixture of alcohol and prescribed drugs, an inquest heard.

Alan Leslie Randall, a father of three, was found in the back of a Fiat after two of his friends had gone inside Sainsbury's in Courthouse Green, Coventry.

Police originally thought a bad batch of heroin may have killed the 39-year-old on December 15 at 2.30pm as, less than three hours later, the body of a 49-year-old man was found in a flat in Watcombe Road, Henley Green.

He was thought to have died as a result of bad heroin.

An inquest at Coventry Magistrates' Court heard how Mr Randall, of Stoney Stanton Road, had been using opiate drugs since 1994 but had been in contact with the community drugs team and was taking methadone, a prescribed heroin substitute.

A toxicology report found Mr Randall had taken a combination of alcohol, methadone and anti-depressants.


The levels, although not toxic individually, had been lethal when combined.


Dr Kevin West, consultant pathologist at Leicester Royal Infirmary, who conducted the postmortem examination, confirmed blood results showed 201mg of alcohol to 100ml of blood - roughly two and a half times the drink-drive limit - 768nanograms of methadone per ml of blood and 2,376nanograms of anti-depressant venlafaxine per ml of blood.


He said: "The effect of methadone is highly variable depending on how used they are to having opiate drugs in their system.


"The level is not massively high for a person that was used to opiates."


Family members were present in court to hear deputy coroner David Collins record a verdict of misadventure.
http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk:80/0100news/0100localnews/tm_headline=-bad--heroin-ruled-out-as-death-cause&method=full&objectid=19037430&siteid=50003-name_page.html

[Anonymous]

Charity helping addicts recover
By Samantha Payne

KCA service manager Simon Eve
It is believed 281,000 people in England are dependent on heroin. KCA Greenwich is an organisation helping to turn people's lives around. Reporter SAMANTHA PAYNE finds out more about the charity.

KCA has seen more than 500 people pass through the doors since it was established in 2005.

The charity, based in Woolwich New Road, Woolwich, aims to help drug addicts recover through a programme usually lasting between six and nine months.

At the moment it is helping around 100 adults from various backgrounds and working with organisations such as Greenwich Council's social services department.

KCA does not just cater for people on the streets and former offenders, but anyone with a drug addiction.

It has six staff working with people on an individual basis to create a care plan which suits their needs.

KCA service manager Simon Eve said: "Somebody might need harm reduction work, who does not understand the harmful nature of the pieces of equipment they use and the pulmonary and cardio problems they can cause.

"I'm hugely proud of the services we run.


Counsellor Trevor Bailey and Sandi Walker
"We have an extremely dedicated group of professionals who work really really hard."

He added: "We want to see these successes go from strength to strength and have more people accessing services at KCA."

The charity's prescribing service puts people on substitute medication such as methadone and subutex, which help wean people off drugs such as heroin and cocaine.

Once people begin to beat their craving, they can then start to resolve other areas affecting their lives such as housing issues or childcare.

At the same time, KCA counsellors continue to work towards them getting completely off drugs.

A relapse prevention programme is also available.

This helps individuals identify the causes leading to the misuse of drugs, such as peer pressure, conflict within the family and mental health issues.

The charity also has an after- care programme which it provides by working with organisations such as Alcoholics Anonymous Churches such as the New Wine Church in Woolwich also support the charity by making donations and providing Christmas hampers.

KCA is also supported by organisations such as Volunteer Centre Greenwich.

It helped decorate and paint the charity's complementary therapies room, which offers relaxation techniques such as aromatheraphy.

KCA counsellor Trevor Bailey, 47, said: "I absolutely love it; seeing the change and being part of facilitating the change.

"I like seeing some families being pulled back together.

"Watching the rebuilding of family units is very precious."

Former addict Sandi Walker, 36, used to spend £150 to £200 a day on crack cocaine and drink 15 to 20 cans of lager at a time.

But she decided to turn her life around when she fell pregnant with her son Trae last year.

The 36-year-old, from Woolwich, said: "He was a gift from God. He gave me a reason to live and climb out of this hole."

Sandi attended a rehabiliation clinic at Wickham Park House, London, last July and since then has been attending KCA two days a week.

She finished her programme at the charity last Friday and is now hoping to help others with addictions and do voluntary work.

Sandi added: "I have got a lot of vision and now know what I'm doing."

For more information about KCA, call 020 8316 0116.

11:55am Tuesday 8th May 2007

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/features/display.var.1382655.0.charity_helping_addicts_recover.php

[Anonymous]

Daily Record NEWS
11 May 2007
DRUG ADDICT GETS TWINS ON NHS
EXCLUSIVE £2500 fertility treatment for methadone couple
By Janice Burns
A HEROIN addict has given birth to twins after having fertility treatment on the NHS.

Nicola McCall, 28, and her partner got the £2500 course despite both being on high doses of methadone.

The new mum was expecting triplets but one died in the womb. Her son Aiden and daughter Taylor were born on April 24.

They are not being breast-fed.

Nicola, of Glasgow, blames five previous miscarriages on drug abuse. She first took heroin at 15.

When she started fertility treatment, she and partner Shane Curran, 31, were taking the equivalent of £50 of heroin a day.


She fell pregnant after three courses of Intra-Uterine Insemination and took methadone all through her pregnancy


Aiden and Taylor have now been allowed home after doctors decided they were not suffering withdrawal from their mother's methadone.


But medics are still trying to discover why the twins shake and twitch while sleeping.


Last night, Nicola said: "We were stunned we got the fertility treatment on the NHS given our past drug addiction.


"What I have, money can't buy. We realise how lucky we are.


"My heart goes out to all those other couples out there who feel like giving up trying to have kids.


"We know we were lucky to be given the chance because there is a huge waiting list."


The decision to give Nicola the treatment has sparked a furious debate among experts.


Professor Neil McKeganey, from the Centre for Drugs Misuse Research at Glasgow University, is a critic of the methadone programme.


He said: "It is quite wrong for the NHS to fund this sort of treatment for drug users. Studies show children of drug addicts are seven times more likely to take drugs.


"The NHS are struggling enough to cope with demand so giving drug users fertility treatment is just adding to problems already there.


"I'm not at all supportive of any drug addict being helped with any type of fertility treatment."


But the doctor who looked after Nicola at Glasgow's Princess Royal Maternity Hospital said drug addicts have the same rights as smokers when it comes to fertility treatment.


Dr Mary Hepburn, a senior lecturer in women's reproductive health, said: "It is easy to judge someone on social circumstances.


"But I cannot see how drug addicts should be prevented from having this treatment any more than someone who smokes, or gets stressed or who has diabetes.


"In my view smoking is far more harmful to a baby than a mum who takes drugs, including methadone."


Nicola started taking heroin and drinking heavily when she was 15. Shane became addicted to heroin at the age of 10 while in a care home.


The couple - who have been on methadone for five years - vowed to leave their drug lifestyle behind.


Nicola said: "We cannot believe we have been given this chance to have our own family.


"I say to poor people who are desperate for kids, 'Don't give up hope.' I thought I would never be lucky to have one, now I have two."


The couple are determined to get off methadone and make a fresh start for their children.


They were given the all-clear for the IUI treatment despite a high risk of the babies being born addicts.


Nicola gave birth a month early. Aiden was born first weighing 4lb 7oz and sister Taylor came into the world a minute later and 1lb lighter.


Taylor spent two days in the special care unit with feeding problems. Both babies have been shaking and twitching in their sleep.


But doctors have told the couple the shaking is a common sleeping disorder.


The delighted couple are doing their best to become model parents. Nicola said: "This is better than winning the lottery. They are everything we ever wanted and more."


Shane added: "We had been trying to keep it quiet that we are still on methadone because people would maybe judge her.


"I am still on 65mg and she is on about 60mg, which is the equivalent of £50 each.


"Nicola has managed to stay about the same and I have got down from 90mg but we are trying to get off it for the sake of the babies.


"We don't want any of the stuff lying around the house, especially after hearing about young children who have died taking it.


"Thankfully, the babies didn't suffer any withdrawal symptoms.


"They had to be monitored and checked on after they were born but they didn't need any treatment.


"Nicola was worried sick about it and upset because she thought they would suffer withdrawal symptoms.


"The twitching that the two of them have is not related to the methadone. The doctors have reassured us that it is some kind of sleeping disorder."


Nicola got the go-ahead for IUI after going through a rigorous vetting process. She became pregnant after her third course.


She had been referred to a fertility consultant after her miscarriages.


She said: "I was convinced that I couldn't have weans because of my history with drugs and I blamed myself for the miscarriages. Every time I got to 12 weeks, I lost the babies. It was heartbreaking.


"It was getting harder to cope with it. I didn't actually want to do the treatment because I didn't think it would happen. I'd given up hope.


"I always wanted children but I never thought it would happen.


"It was my former GP, Dr Thomas Gilhooly, who recommended us for treatment and he gave us hope.


"He was the first person who said to us that he thought we should go for fertility treatment. Before that we never even thought about it.


"It took about a year because of background reports. We had all the police and social work checks done and we were given the all-clear.


"We were surprised they picked us because of our history of drug abuse but we were delighted. I have since found out that I have a blood disorder which probably caused all the miscarriages."


Nicola said she refused to believe she was pregnant with triplets after her third attempt at fertility treatment was a success.


She said: "I thought there was no chance. By then I had had enough and was ready for giving up. It was really hard on me.


"When I went for my 12-week scan, I found out I was expecting triplets but the third baby died in my womb.


"I don't know how much the IUI costs but we were told we could have four IUI treatments, then if that didn't work we would have two further IVF treatments.


"I know it is a lot of money. We know we were lucky to be given the chance because there is a huge waiting list."


Nicola is still finding it hard to take in that she is a mum of two.


She said: "We have been home a week now and it is still sinking in that we have got two babies.


"It has kicked in more now that we have got them home whereas when I was in hospital it was like I was getting watched all the time.


"Now that I have them home, I can get into my own routine.


"Everyone thought I would fall flat on my face and I wouldn't be able to cope because of my drugs past but I've proved them wrong.


"I think these babies are the start of a new life for us. My family are behind me 100 per cent. Now I do everything for my babies and the family rather than for anyone else."


Shane, who has a conviction for drugs offences, said he was determined to be a good dad.


He said: "We have both got fresh hope for the future now. A fresh, clean start.


"We never had a purpose before to get ourselves clean so that we can have a life.


"We can't thank the doctors enough for giving us this gift of a family. We won't let them down."


The couple live on benefits in a rented flat in a tower block near Glasgow's city centre. They have no prospects of getting jobs.


Former carpet fitter Shane was forced off work with back problems after he was attacked in the street with a hatchet last year.


He wants to work but has applied for disability allowance because his injuries were so severe.


The couple spoke openly of years of drug abuse.


They were both addicts and Shane was living in a homeless hostel when the pair met eight years ago in a nightclub.


Nicola said: "I started drugs when I was 15 but I have worked. I've been a care assistant and went to train as a hairdresser but my addiction got out of control.


"I think I let myself get taken down that road and I have to take responsibility for that.


"I got myself out of it and that was a result. The hardest part was admitting I had a problem to myself, let alone anyone else.


"I met Shane at the dancing in the city centre eight years ago. We were both using drugs.


"We never injected. We always just smoked it. We were too scared of needles.


"We started living together almost right away because I didn't want him staying in a homeless unit. He came to live at my mum's.


"But drugs were our lives for a while. We always felt like we were the scum of the earth, like everyone was judging us.


"We were desperate and spent every penny we borrowed and our social on drugs."


Shane said the couple went on the methadone programme five years ago because they realised heroin was destroying their lives.


He said: "We helped each other come off the drugs. It got to the stage where every penny went on drugs. We were out of control.


"I have had a pretty crap life and have been in care homes since I was a boy


"It was peer pressure that drove me to take drugs at the age of 10 and after that I was hooked.


"I decided one day that enough was enough and went on the methadone programme but after a while methadone makes you very addicted.


"I wanted off it before the weans were born. I didn't want bottles lying around the house with the weans there.


"But my doctor said it wasn't a good idea to go cold turkey and to stay on it a bit longer.


"I want to build a new life for my family and get back to work.


"I have applied for disability to get us by as I still have a bad back.


"We moved into a multi-storey last year but that was before we knew we were having weans.


"Now we will have to ask the housing department for a house because a flat is no good with two babies."


Nicola's consultant, Dr Hepburn, defended her right to children and fertility treatment.


She said: "It is right and proper that any parent being looked into for possible fertility treatment is assessed.


"This should include looking at their age, their weight and of course their health, both mental and physical. But just because someone takes drugs should not rule them out.


"Some people in society are too quick to judge who should or should not get treatments on the NHS. In this case, it comes down to poverty.


"Many addicts will be in poverty. Are we saying that every poor person should not be allowed treatments on the NHS to help them have a baby?


"And that only women who don't smoke and are in perfect health can be helped? That would be ridiculous."


A spokeswoman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said anyone who applied for fertility treatment had to undergo "a very thorough medical and social assessment".


She said: "This process is carried out with input from a patient's GP and from hospital staff, and is far-reaching.


"Infertility treatment would not be offered to patients who are known to be using illegal drugs.


"However, the medical and social circumstances of patients who have used drugs in the past and are now in recovery or in stable harm reduction programmes, such as methadone, would be assessed to determine their access to fertility treatment."

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/news/tm_headline=drug-addict-gets-twins-on-nhs--&method=full&objectid=19083628&siteid=66633-name_page.html

[Anonymous]

This story is from our news.com.au network Source: AAP

Murder left problem of children, court told
By Alyssa Braithwaite
May 11, 2007

A MAN who murdered a three-year-old girl and tried to kill her five-year-old brother in a house fire after shooting dead their father might not have known what else to do with them, a Sydney court was told today.
James Harry Barton, 50, was found guilty in the NSW Supreme Court last year of murdering the girl in the fire at Albury, in southern NSW, after shooting her father in September 2004.

Barton, from Albury's neighbouring Victorian border town of Wodonga, was convicted of the manslaughter of the girl's father and attempted murder of her brother.

He was in court for sentencing today.

His trial was told that after shooting the children's father, who cannot be named, Barton entertained the children before drugging them with methadone and starting the fire.

He later rescued the boy from the burning house.

The jury was told the murdered man had an extensive criminal record and had been blackmailing Barton for almost 10 years.

Today, defence barrister Angus Webb referred to a doctor's report which said Barton might suffer from difficulties with problem-solving.

Mr Webb said Barton might have lit the fire because he had been unable to decide what to do with the children once their father was dead.

"(The doctor) states the view that what was present was a difficulty or limitation in the offender to carry out logical problem-solving," Mr Webb told the court.

"His inability to problem-solve, to logically problem-solve, may have had a bearing on any of the actions that he took or didn't take."

Crown prosecutor Dan Howard SC questioned how much weight should be given to such a problem, if Barton was indeed afflicted by it.

"If you accept that there ... is a problem-solving difficulty, do you assume it was in play on this occasion?" Mr Howard said.

He said the trouble with accepting this was that Barton had always maintained his innocence.

Justice Terence Buddin reserved his decision.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21712353-1702,00.html

[Melis11577]

Police issue warning over missing methadone

By DON PEAT/Examiner Police Writer
Local News - Friday, May 11, 2007 Updated @ 11:33:43 AM

City police have issued a public warning after several doses of methadone were stolen from the front porch of a Sherbrooke Street home yesterday.

Police said the drugs can cause serious injury or death if taken improperly.


Sgt. Walter DiClemente said the drugs — prescribed for pain treatment or drug addiction — were left on the front porch by a 22-year-old woman.

When she realized the black box, about 3.5 inches by 10 inches in size, was missing she contacted police, he said.

Anyone with information about the missing methadone is asked to call city police at 876-1122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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