‘Vomiting blood and shaking uncontrollably’ – Funding cuts mean addicts left to fight disease alone
Craig sits on the edge of his chair, his hands shaking as he looks blankly at the church wall.
He’s fighting a withdrawal from crack and alcohol that rattles through his body.
His eyes are empty, but you can sense the turmoil he’s fighting.
Some 20 years of addiction has left him teetering on the edge of life and death – and he knows it all too well.
“I’ve been told by a few doctors, if you don’t stop you will be dead soon. Your body can’t take much more of this.”
Craig’s been an addict for 20 years
More and more people are dying and Craig’s lost friends along the way.
Since 2012, drug deaths in England and Wales have almost doubled, rising from 2,597 to 4,859 deaths in 2021 according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
Craig’s enveloped by his yellow hoodie which only emphasises the yellow tinge of sickness in his skin.
He’s swallowed up by the luminous fabric, he seems so small, but this is the heaviest he’s been in a long time – 15 days sober and he’s put on a stone in weight.
He went cold turkey to get accepted into a rehabilitation centre.
Spots are few and far between and local authorities often ask addicts to show they’re willing to “do the work” by getting sober, or at least significantly reducing their intake, before they get approved for rehab funding.
Over the last 10 years councils have cut funding by half in real terms according to analysis shared with Sky News from UK Addiction Treatment Centres, the UK’s largest supplier of rehabilitation services.
In 2013, 31% of the public health grant (£828m) was spent on drug and alcohol addiction services, but that’s dropped to 16% (£608m).
And when looking at drug addiction treatment services alone, funding has dropped by a third in a decade – that’s before considering the effects of inflation.
In 2013, £569m was spent on drug addiction support services; in 2023 that funding is forecast at £379m despite the need for life saving treatment being more urgent than ever.
Detox or die
Detoxing on your own can kill you but for Craig the risk is worth it.
A spot in rehab is his golden ticket to a new life, a ticket that will whisk him away from the monster that’s always on his heels.
“You’re not supposed to do it, just stop, because you can die. I were really, really ill for four days.
“I was vomiting blood and shaking uncontrollably.”
A tear rises up to his eyes, but he swallows it back down. He says he’s just been through some of the worst days of his life and the pain is palpable.
Addicts like Craig can sign up to a medical detox before rehab, but the waiting list can be months long, and once you’re clean you join the queue for rehab which can take another six months – time Craig said he doesn’t have.
“It’ll only be a matter of time before I start drinking and doing drugs again.
“Something could just trigger me and then, I’m stubborn, I’ll just go and get a can or a bottle and the spiral starts again.
“I’ve been stealing from supermarkets, it’s got that bad.”
Craig knows he’s just weeks away from getting help, but no one, including himself, knows if he’ll get there.
He’s been here before, about to get in and then back to square one all because he relapsed.
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Who’s responsible for the cuts?
There are thousands of people like Craig waiting for help and support workers say addiction treatment services are more stretched than ever.
The Local Government Association acknowledged “the enormous funding pressures that vital addiction services are under” but it said this is “due to cuts in funding by central government”.
In July 2021, Dame Carol Black’s report into drug treatment services said the system is “not fit for purpose” and that cuts had left services “on their knees”.
In response, the Department for Health and Social Care published its long-term drug strategy in December 2021 which pledged to spend £538m on improving addiction treatment services by the end of 2025.
So far £103m of that fund has been rolled out in April this year.
But services say it’s too little too late.
Julie Rigby, Senior Support worker at Oasis Recovery Runcorn said: “We’re seeing a general decline in funded places for people that are coming in from the local authority. Over the last few years it’s decreased by at least 50%.
“People with drug and alcohol misuse issues that are in the community are desperate, trying to get help, and they just can’t get funding to get through the door.
“People are dying to get into rehab.”
Families destroyed
Karen offered us tea as we sat down in her front room. She’s warm and welcoming but her smile can’t mask the grief hanging over her.
She told us the last year has stood still since she lost her son Kane to a heroin overdose.
Kane was fun-loving and empathetic, the type of guy that would give his last fiver to a homeless person, Karen and her son Adam said.
But Kane had suffered from an 18-year addiction to alcohol that started when he was 16 years old.
“It’s heartbreaking to see somebody you love just ruining their lives, he couldn’t help it, he couldn’t stop himself.
“He would say to me, ‘I need to go into rehab mum, I need help’.
“If he had got the help he needed, I think he could still be here today. And I think he was failed.”
Karen Johnson lost her son Kane to a heroin overdose
In Wiltshire, where Kane lived, the local authority cut funding for addiction treatment services by £2.6m over a decade – the fifth largest cut across the country.
Kane’s brother Adam told Sky News he had been crying out for help but that the life-threatening severity of his addiction had been ignored.
“When he did try to get help he would go to the GP drunk to make sure they knew how bad it was.
“He was totally honest with them, he was up front and clearly needed help.”
Kane’s family hope fresh government funding over the next two years will mean cries for help won’t go ignored and families across the country won’t be torn apart like theirs.
A man has been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in connection with the ship collision in the North Sea.
Humberside Police said the 59-year-old is in custody to allow enquiries to take place, and officers are talking to those involved to find out what happened.
The force added investigators have started a criminal probe into the cause of the collision between the Stena Immaculate and Solong off the coast of East Yorkshire on Monday, and are working with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
Ernst Russ, the owner of Solong, later confirmed the man detained was the ship’s captain. The shipping firm called him “the master of the ship” – which is understood to be the same as a captain.
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Sky News above North Sea ship collision
One person remains missing and is presumed dead after emergency services stopped their search on Monday evening.
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch is also involved in early work to determine what caused the two vessels to collide.
Read more: What we know about the collision
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Map shows moment of collision in North Sea
Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Superintendent Craig Nicholson, said: “Humberside Police have taken primacy for the investigation of any potential criminal offences which arise from the collision between the two vessels.
“Extensive work has already been carried out, and we are working closely with our partners to understand what happened, and to provide support to all of those affected.
“Following enquiries undertaken by my team, we have arrested a 59-year-old man on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in connection with the collision, this follows the conclusion of search operations by HM Coastguard for the missing crew member of the SOLONG.”
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North Sea: Sailor presumed dead
He added: “Our thoughts are with the family of the missing crew member, and I have appointed family liaison officers to make contact and provide support to the family.
“The man arrested remains in custody at this time whilst enquiries are under way, and we continue speaking with all those involved to establish the full circumstances of the incident.”
Ernst Russ added in a later statement that it could confirm the master of the Solong “has been detained by Humberside Police in the UK”.
“The master and our entire team are actively assisting with the investigations,” the shipping firm said.
“Out of respect for the investigation and all involved we will not comment further at this time.”
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Sky News above North Sea ship collision
HM Coastguard said in an update that the Solong is still alight
US tanker Stena Immaculate was anchored off the coast of East Yorkshire when the Solong crashed into it at around 9.45am on Monday.
Some 36 people were brought safely to the shore, but one person was reported missing from the cargo ship.
At least one tank of Jet-A1 fuel onboard the Stena Immaculate was ruptured, its operator said
At around 11.20pm, the Solong started to drift southwards away from the crash site. HM Coastguard said in an update earlier on Tuesday that the ship is still alight.
Tugboats are in the vicinity to ensure it remains away from the coast
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the container ship is expected to stay afloat, after a minister told parliament that it could sink earlier in the day.
She said she met with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s chief executive Virginia McVea, and was “pleased to have been informed that early indications suggest that both vessels are now expected to stay afloat”.
Ernst Russ also denied reports the vessel was carrying sodium cyanide and said: “There are four empty containers that have previously contained the hazardous chemical.
“These containers will continue to be monitored.”
Stena Immaculate was carrying 220,000 barrels of Jet-A1 fuel in 16 tanks, at least one of which was ruptured, its operator also said.
UK
Triple killer Kyle Clifford will serve whole-life sentence for murdering BBC commentator’s family
Triple killer Kyle Clifford has been handed a whole-life sentence for murdering his ex-girlfriend, her mother and her sister.
Warning: This article contains distressing details.
The sentence imposed by Mr Justice Bennathan means he will never be released.
The former soldier, 26, admitted murdering BBC racing commentator John Hunt’s wife Carol Hunt, 61, and their daughters Louise, 25, and Hannah, 28.
He also pleaded guilty to false imprisonment of his former partner Louise, as well as possession of the crossbow used to kill her and her sister, and the 10-inch butcher’s knife he stabbed their mother to death with.
Louise Hunt
Pic: Facebook
Clifford denied raping Louise, who had broken up with him 13 days before the four-hour attack in the Hunt family home on 9 July last year.
But he was found guilty by a jury last week after a trial at Cambridge Crown Court, which he refused to attend, prompting police and prosecutors to brand him a “coward”.
The judge paid tribute “to the astonishing dignity and courage” of the victims’ family, including John Hunt and his surviving daughter Amy, who hugged after the sentence.
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Footage shows Clifford fleeing the Hunt family home
They, along with Hannah’s partner Alex Klein, had read emotional victim impact statements in court as Mr Hunt said hell would roll out the “red carpet” for him.
He said the evidence showed Clifford “to be a jealous man, soaked in self-pity – a man who holds women in utter contempt”.
The court heard Clifford, from Enfield, north London, began planning the murders after Louise ended their 18-month relationship in a message on 26 June.
Carol Hunt pictured with her husband John Hunt.
Pic: Facebook
He tricked his way inside before stabbing her mother to death in what prosecutors said was a “brutal knife attack”, then lay in wait for an hour for Louise to enter the house.
Clifford held her for more than two hours, as he restrained her with duct tape and raped her, then shot her through the chest with a crossbow moments before her sister Hannah got home and was also killed.
He fled the scene and shot himself with the weapon as armed police descended and is now paralysed from the chest down.
The recovered crossbow.
Pic: Hertfordshire Police
The 10-inch butcher’s knife Clifford used was never found but police released an image of the packaging.
Pic: PA
The judge told Clifford, who didn’t attend his sentencing hearing, he went to the Hunt family home to launch “a murderous attack” on his ex-girlfriend’s family.
“You first killed her mother Carol, who even on that day showed you nothing but kindness in the moments before you attacked her,” he said.
“You raped and killed Louise who had been as gentle as she could in ending her relationship with you, after your arrogance and anger proved too much for her to stand.
“Then you murdered Hannah Hunt, who had done nothing to harm you save supporting her little sister.”
The jury wasn’t told Clifford had searched for Andrew Tate’s podcast less than 24 hours before the murders.
Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC said “it is no coincidence” he turned to the “poster boy for misogynists – a poster boy for those who view women as possession to be controlled” the night before committing such “acts of violence against women”.
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