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
Pictured: Boy killed in Gateshead industrial estate fire – 14 children arrested on suspicion of manslaughter
Tributes have been paid to 14-year-old Layton Carr who died in a fire at an industrial estate.
Eleven boys and three girls, aged between 11 and 14 years, have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after the incident in Gateshead on Friday. They remain in police custody.
Police were alerted to a fire at Fairfield industrial park in the Bill Quay area
Firefighters raced to Fairfield industrial park in the Bill Quay area shortly after 8pm, putting out the blaze a short time later.
Police then issued an appeal for a missing boy, Layton Carr, who was believed to be in the area at the time.
In a statement, the force said that “sadly, following searches, a body believed to be that of 14-year-old Layton Carr was located deceased inside the building”.
Layton’s next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers, police added.
Layton has been described as a ‘beautiful soul’
A fundraising page on GoFundMe has been set up to help Layton’s mother pay for funeral costs.
Organiser Stephanie Simpson said: “The last thing Georgia needs to stress trying to pay for a funeral for her Boy Any donations will help thank you.”
One tribute in a Facebook post read: “Can’t believe I’m writing this my nephew RIP Layton 💔 forever 14 you’ll be a massive miss, thinking of my sister and 2 beautiful nieces right now.”
Another added: “My boy ❤️ my baby cousin, my Layton. Nothing will ever come close to the pain I feel right now. Forever 14. I’ll miss you sausage.”
A third said: “Rest in peace big lad such a beautiful soul taken far to soon my thoughts are with you Gee stay strong girl hear for u always.”
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Detective Chief Inspector Louise Jenkins, of Northumbria Police, also said: “This is an extremely tragic incident where a boy has sadly lost his life.”
She added that the force’s “thoughts are with Layton’s family as they begin to attempt to process the loss of their loved one”.
They are working to establish “the full circumstances surrounding the incident” and officers will be in the area to “offer reassurance to the public”, she added.
A cordon remains in place at the site while police carry out enquiries.
Sky News can reveal that the government has rowed back on a national compensation scheme for victims of child sexual abuse, despite it being promised under the previous Conservative administration.
Warning – this story contains references to sexual and physical abuse
A National Redress Scheme was one of 20 key recommendations made by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), but a Home Office report reveals the government has scrapped it because of the cost.
Marie, who is 71, suffered alleged sexual, physical, and emotional abuse at Greenfield House Convent in St Helens, Merseyside, between 1959 and 1962, and is still fighting for compensation.
Greenfield House Convent, where Marie says she was abused
As soon as she arrived as a six-year-old, Marie says her hair was cut off, her name changed, and she experienced regular beatings from the nuns and students.
She claims a nun instigated the violence, including when Marie was held down so that her legs were “spread-eagled” as she was sexually abused with a coat hanger.
Merseyside Police investigated claims of abuse at the convent, but in 2016, a suspect died before charges could be brought.
Marie has received an apology from the Catholic body that ran the home; she tried to sue them, but her claim was rejected because it was filed too long after the alleged abuse.
Marie, 71, is still fighting for compensation for the abuse she says she suffered as a child
In February, ministers said the law would change for victims of sexual abuse trying to sue institutions for damages, which was a recommendation from the IICSA.
Previously, people had to make a civil claim before they were 21, unless the victim could prove a fair trial could proceed despite the time lapse.
Campaigners argued for the time limit to be removed as, on average, victims wait 26 years to come forward. Changes to the 1980 Limitation Act could lead to more people making claims.
Peter Garsden, President of The Association of Child Abuse Lawyers
Civil cases ‘can take three to five years’
But Peter Garsden, president of the Association of Child Abuse Lawyers, worries that when it comes to historical abuse where the defendant is dead, institutions will still argue that it is impossible to have a fair trial and will fight to have the case thrown out of court.
Mr Garsden said it takes “between three and five years” for a civil case to get to trial.
He warned that claimants “can end up losing if you go through that process. Whereas the Redress Scheme would be quicker, much more straightforward, and much more likely to give justice to the victims”.
Victim awarded £10 compensation
Jimbo, who was a victim of abuse at St Aidan’s children’s home in Cheshire, took his case to the High Court twice and the Court of Appeal three times, but, after 13 years, all he ended up with was £10 for his bus fare to court.
Despite the Lord Justice of Appeal saying he believed that the abuse had occurred, Jimbo lost his claim because of the time limit for child sexual abuse claims to be made.
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Neither Marie nor Jimbo is likely to benefit from the removal of the time limit for personal injury claims, which is why Mr Garsden is calling on the government to implement a National Redress Scheme for victims of sexual abuse, as recommended by the IICSA.
Hundreds of millions paid to victims
The governments in Scotland and Northern Ireland have set up compensation schemes and paid hundreds of millions of pounds to victims.
In 2023, the then Conservative government said a similar scheme would be organised for England and Wales.
But the Home Office admitted in its Tackling Child Sexual Abuse: Progress Update that it “is not currently taking forward any further steps on the IICSA proposal for a separate, national financial redress scheme for all survivors of child sexual abuse”.
“In the current fiscal environment, this recommendation is very difficult to take forward,” it added.
For victims, the scheme was the last chance of compensation for a lifetime blighted by abuse.
“The money is about justice and about all the other people who have had to suffer this abuse,” Marie said.
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