Life inside Europe’s drugs death capital: ‘Dying would be better than my £1,000 a month heroin addiction’
It is a freezing morning in east Glasgow and the only thing Chris has on his mind is how quickly he can get his first fix.
He strides down the street brandishing a needle in the air, as cars and vans drive through the housing estate. The syringe is filled with brown liquid.
“20ml of heroin for £10,” he shouts, as he brags it took him less than ten minutes to obtain.
Chris, a 41-year-old former and decorator
A 41-year-old former painter and decorator, Chris recounts how his nearly two decades of crime and drugs started after his mum was murdered in 2007. But it is clear he is distracted – and increasingly desperate. “I just need to get this in me,” he says, holding up the heroin.
He walks to a makeshift drugs den on the corner of a supermarket car park. Buried deep in the bushes, it is strewn with blood-soaked needles and drug paraphernalia – one trip and there would be a serious risk of contracting a dangerous infection.
Chris doesn’t bat an eyelid. He sits on a crushed petrol jerry can covered in dirt and muck, his drug-filled syringe clutched between his teeth as he pulls down his trousers.
The drugs den where Chris injects heroin
“It’s really disgusting, having to do this,” he shouts, a nod to the lack of dignity in this deeply personal moment.
He prods and tugs at the skin on his lower leg and groin, desperate to find an area to inject. Silence falls as the drugs enter his system.
Just a stone’s throw away, a new government facility is about to open, allowing addicts to bring their illegal narcotics and take them under medical supervision, without the fear of arrest by police.
The “safer drug consumption room“, which will be the first of its kind in the UK, is how authorities are trying to tackle drugs deaths and clean up the streets. It is set to open in the coming weeks.
The safer drug consumption room in Glasgow
Scotland has the highest rate of drug deaths in Europe. Last year, 1,172 people died due to drug misuse, according to National Records of Scotland data. That is up 121, or 12%, compared to the previous 12 months.
Opioids – such as heroin – were implicated in 80% of the deaths. And Glasgow is at the centre of the epidemic.
Chris said his mum was murdered in 2007
‘No trust’
Officials believe the project could lure people like Chris off the back alley and in to a sanitised, clinical environment.
Chris speaks eloquently and passionately – and sometimes bluntly – about his life on the streets. Just two days before we meet him for the second time, the tent he lives in was set on fire.
He is no saint – and does not pretend to be. Nicknamed “Macka”, he reveals he funds his £1,000-a-month drug habit by shoplifting from major high-street retailers.
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But he is yet to be convinced by the government’s scheme.
“I think if you’re in that area? Yes,” he says.
“But do actually people think that it’s a trap? I don’t think there’s that level of trust.”
A controversial idea
Since 2016, when the idea of a safer drugs consumption room in Glasgow was first considered, there have been six prime ministers, three first ministers, endless debate and more than 8,000 Scottish drug deaths.
It is a regular feature in some other major European cities that have claimed high success rates in saving lives.
But the idea is controversial – and not cheap. Up to £2.3m has been ring-fenced every year for pilots in several Scottish cities, depending on the “success” of Glasgow.
This is a political decision and comes amid a backdrop of services being slashed in other areas amid squeezed budgets.
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The big test will be whether deaths decrease or not – and how this will operate alongside the work of law enforcement.
Those who oppose the idea fear it could downplay the dangers of drugs, while diverting vital resources away from treatment-based approaches.
The Home Office previously said there was “no safe way to take illegal drugs”.
But in response to concerns that the centre could become a “magnet for crime” with drug dealers looking to take advantage of vulnerable people, NHS officials in Glasgow said: “The international evidence would suggest that’s unlikely to happen if the service is well managed.”
For some people on the streets, it could be too late.
I ask Chris whether he ever considers if that hit could be his last.
He responds: “To be honest mate, that would be a blessing. The way my life is right now, dying? Dying seems like a better life.”
UK
Post Office scandal: At least 8 convictions may be linked to second IT system used by Post Office
At least eight convictions predating the Horizon Post Office scandal are being looked at by the body investigating potential miscarriages of justice, Sky News has learned.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has confirmed it is examining multiple cases of former sub-postmasters affected by Capture software.
The computer accounting system was used in the early 1990s, prior to Horizon being introduced to Post Office branches from 1999 onwards.
Horizon was at the centre of the Post Office scandal and saw hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly convicted of stealing from their branches.
The Kroll report, commissioned by the government earlier this year, found that Capture had bugs and glitches and there was a reasonable likelihood it had caused cash shortfalls too.
Lord Beamish, the former Labour MP Kevan Jones, has been supporting victims and is calling for the government to extend current legislation to automatically quash convictions.
The Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act was passed in May but does not include Capture victims.
Lord Beamish told Sky News he has raised the issue with the Justice Secretary and called for a House of Lords debate.
“The government are going to have to take this seriously,” he said. “We can’t have a situation where we have a two-tier system where people get exonerated from Horizon and the Capture cases are either forgotten or have to go through a very lengthy legal process to get their names cleared.”
Chris claims his mother was wrongly jailed because of accounting problems with the Post Office software Capture
He added he had “little faith” in the CCRC’s “ability to deal with cases”, after multiple Horizon cases were referred to the body years ago.
“The problem with these cases is the lack of evidence… that has been destroyed or lost so actually proving some of these cases through that process will be very difficult.
“Therefore I think a blanket exoneration like we had with Horizon I think has got to be discussed and considered for these cases.”
The CCRC told Sky News it has five cases under review “in which the Capture IT system could be a factor”.
It also said it is “seeking further information” on eight cases referenced in the Kroll report.
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The CCRC added that the time taken for a case review to be completed was dependent on the “complexity” of each case “and how readily available information about it is”. In a statement, it admitted: “The availability of information can be a particular hurdle in older cases.”
Chris’s mother died earlier this year following a battle with Alzheimer’s and never got to clear her name
Chris Roberts’ mother, Liz Roberts, was convicted in 1999 of stealing £46,000 from the Post Office and spent 13 months behind bars.
Liz, who was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease, passed away earlier this year.
Chris said she was jailed four days before he turned 17, and he used to have “nightmares” that she was “going to die in there”.
“There was no evidence of any financial gain because they went through everything. And obviously the money wasn’t in our accounts because it didn’t exist,” he added.
Despite being offered “three deals” by the Post Office to plead guilty, Liz refused and was sent to prison.
Liz Roberts during happier times before she was jailed for theft – her son insists she was innocent
Chris believes that the 2019 High Court win by Horizon victims was a missed opportunity for the Post Office to look back at Capture cases.
“It would have been worth something then because my mum would have died knowing that everybody else knew she was innocent,” he said.
“My dad would have died knowing that the love of his life wasn’t vilified as a criminal.”
Chris wants his mother exonerated and “those actively responsible” to “stand up in court… and justify themselves”.
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Sky’s Adele Robinson examines Britain’s biggest miscarriages of justice
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “We were horrified to learn about the issues with the Capture system and are working closely across government to thoroughly examine Kroll’s independent report and consider what action should be taken.
“We continue to listen to postmasters and others who have been sharing their views on the report’s findings since its publication last month.”
Official accounts have revealed for the first time how much the King’s 2023 coronation cost UK taxpayers.
According to the accounts, the government spent £72m on the coronation – the first in Britain since Queen Elizabeth II’s in 1953.
The figure includes £50.3m of costs attributed to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which coordinated the coronation, and £21.7m in costs for the Home Office for the policing of the event.
By comparison, Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and events during the period of national mourning cost the government an estimated £162m – £74m for the Home Office and £57m for the DCMS as well as costs to the devolved governments.
The figures come from the culture department’s recently released annual report and accounts.
The department said it had “successfully delivered on the central weekend of His Majesty King Charles III’s Coronation, enjoyed by many millions both in the UK and across the globe”.
People walk past a souvenir shop during the coronation. Pic: Reuters
It described the event as a “once-in-a-generation moment” which provided an occasion for the “entire country to come together in celebration”.
Both the King and Queen were crowned at Westminster Abbey in May last year, in a ceremony attended by dignitaries from around the world.
A star-studded concert at Windsor Castle, featuring Take That and stars such as Olly Murs, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie, took place the following night.
It had been described ahead of the event as being a “slimmed-down affair” – with the country still in the grips of the cost-of-living crisis – and accounts show an “underspend” related to the coronation of around £2.8m.
Olly Murs performing at the Coronation Concert. Pic: Reuters
Did coronation boost the economy?
Despite talk of a coronation boost, the UK’s economy actually contracted in the month of May 2023.
However, experts said that was mostly due to the cost of the additional public holiday for the event, which weighed on output.
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Each bank holiday costs the UK economy around £2.3bn, with the extra bank holiday for the late Queen’s funeral estimated to have cost around £2.4bn, according to government figures.
With the extra coronation bank holiday, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed negative growth of 0.1% during May 2023.
However, that was slightly better than economists had predicted ahead of the event.
Prior to the event, economic forecasters, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), had predicted a boost of £337m for the UK’s economy due to the coronation – including £104m in extra pub spending and an estimated £223m spend from tourism to the UK during the period.
Hotel revenue was also said to be up by 54% compared to the same point in the previous year, while bookings for UK-bound flights for the coronation weekend jumped by 149% within 24 hours of the day being announced, according to TravelPort.
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