Scotland’s drug epidemic: ‘I lost my leg to £15 heroin hit’
He is a military veteran who ended up hooked on heroin for a decade, until one dodgy hit of the lethal drug cost him £15 and his leg.
Willie, who is 48 and sleeps on the streets of Dundee, has lived a life of misery and stubborn addiction after medics were forced to remove his leg when an evening of hunting for his latest fix went catastrophically wrong.
The amputee is unclear whether he lost his leg because of a dirty needle or whether the drugs were packed with unknown, potent substances.
The chaos of the evening that changed his life is a blur and something of a mystery.
On the frontline of Scotland’s drugs death emergency, Willie says there’s “no support” as a new wave of crack cocaine washes over his hometown.
Dundee – a city home to fewer than 150,000 people – has been the notorious epicentre of Europe’s overdose crisis for years. Many of Willie’s friends have been killed.
There has been a sharp and sustained rise in drug deaths across Scotland since 2013.
Despite a slight dip in 2021, a record number of lives have been lost in the last decade with former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon previously admitting her government “took our eye off the ball”.
Drug deaths predicted to fall
Experts have told Sky News the latest drug death figures, set to be released on Tuesday, are likely to show the loss of life among Scots is finally decreasing.
One leading figure claims there could be a substantial drop in the most recent 12-month period – but the havoc is far from over on the streets of Dundee.
Professor Catriona Matheson, an expert in substance misuse from Stirling University, said: “All the indications I have seen show the figures for 2022 will be reduced. Not just a little bit.
“It means some of the initiatives that have been put in place are starting to have an effect.
“But, we cannot say we are on a downward trajectory because there is an illicit market with new synthetic opioids which are very cheap, potent and we are starting to see those coming through.”
Professor Catriona Matheson
Acid attacks and £10 valium
Staggering down the street is one mum who is gripped by dangerous cravings. She tells a frightening tale of acid being poured over her legs amid a struggle with a drug debt linked to an underworld figure.
She is in agony as the open wounds on her limbs ooze bodily fluids.
Sky News went inside the nearby Lochee high-rise estate, where locals told of a dangerous scene where crime is rife and drugs are deadly.
Lochee high rise estate
One father, Barry Richie, describes the relentless loop of having to dodge people suffering overdoses in the common areas and stairwells.
He said: “I can’t bring my kids here on the weekend.”
Addicts on the scheme say access to illegal substances is easier than ever. One says he can get a packet of 25 valium pills for £10 within “seconds” by making a quick phone call.
Barry Richie
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Why is drug use so high in Scotland?
Another user said: “The place is flooded with crack. It has always been bad but this year it is 100 times worse”.
The presence of Sky News became a problem when one dealer approached the cameras with a thinly veiled threat suggesting he had his throat “slit” recently and the police don’t scare those involved in the drugs trade.
“You are being watched right now,” he warned.
A short time later the situation was at risk of being hostile and filming was abandoned.
Street benzos, blues, diazepam and valium
The types of substances are an evolving picture.
There were 918 deaths involving benzodiazepines in 2021, nearly five times as many as 2015.
The prescription drugs, which mostly come via the black market, are commonly known as street benzos, blues, diazepam and valium.
Street performer Jesse Jones says pills these days would “blow your mind” compared to the strength of heroin.
The 53-year-old, who plays the bongos in Dundee’s main shopping area, says he can get a handful of 25 valium tablets within minutes for less than the price of a bottle of vodka.
He said: “There was one time I was at my girlfriend’s and I had taken four and I instantly recognised why people are dying. I was scared. If I had taken another 15, I would not be here.
Jesse Jones
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Inside shelter tackling Scotland’s drug problem.
“Some people are crazy on it. It does bring the worst out in people. This is like a different planet. It is light years apart compared to heroin.”
Drugs deaths are now recognised as one of the biggest contributors to Scotland’s falling life expectancy. Some data indicators suggest overdoses among Scots are higher than even in the United States.
The rate of death compared with the available figures from European neighbours reveals the extent of Scotland’s problems.
Why is Scotland unique?
Experts say poverty and lack of opportunities are the key drivers.
People in the most deprived areas of Scotland are more than 15 times as likely to die from drugs compared to those in an affluent area, according to the National Records of Scotland.
Kirsten Horsburgh, who has worked in drug treatment services for more than a decade, is chief executive of the Scottish Drugs Forum. The charity is a leading voice on the crisis.
She said: “A lot of the same problems exist in England and in other areas in terms of poverty, deprivation and trauma. But the issues are more concentrated in Scotland.
“One of the drivers for drug-related deaths is the lack of people being in the treatment that would potentially save their lives. We have less than 40% of people accessing that treatment. In England, they do have more people accessing treatment.
Kirsten Horsburgh
“There has definitely been progress in the way our treatment services are delivered and improvement with standards to get people accessing more timely treatment.
“We know that there is likely to be a slight reduction in the numbers of deaths that we will see [in Tuesday’s latest figures]. This is positive but it is still not a sign of success when we will still have well over 1,000 people having died.
Drug laws are currently reserved to Westminster but the Scottish government has control of health and social policies around drug consumption.
Ministers in Edinburgh have ploughed in £250m into the country’s addiction services but key targets have been missed.
Data suggest almost 60% of services have not given addicts the option to start treatment the same day they turned up for help, despite that being the expected standard.
It has resulted in charities taking matters into their own hands.
As figures show the number of women dying from drugs is on the rise, Sky News was given special access inside a unit for homeless women who are addicted to drugs.
The women’s centre
The facility, run by the Simon Community Scotland, has changed its approach to move away from a “no tolerance” approach to drug use.
Previously the shelter’s residents risked losing their room if they were caught taking substances within the building but amid the growing national emergency, the charity shifted its stance.
Clean needles and safe injecting equipment is now provided in a special harm reduction room alongside naloxone which is a medication to reverse opioid overdose.
The centre now provides clean needles
Hannah Boyle, from the charity, said the results have been game-changing.
She said: “In 2020 we tragically lost 17 people in our residential services and in 2021 we lost one person. That is a dramatic shift and decrease in numbers.
“We have been able to save lives as much as we can and really change our approach to make sure people have what they need when they take substances and they have a quality of life.”
Hannah Boyle
Is residential rehab the answer?
The Scottish government’s strategy to get a grip on the ongoing emergency is funding more residential rehabilitation facilities.
Ministers aim to increase bed capacity to 650 and ensure there are at least 1,000 publicly funded placements.
Nestled in the rural fields of Fyvie, Aberdeenshire is the Sunnybrae rehab unit.
It is a Christian programme where addicts enrol for 12 months on a strict regime of Bible-based learning and counselling to rebuild their lives.
Mobile phones are banned and residents are weaned off all substances – including tobacco – in as little as two weeks.
Leaders said more than 450 people have taken part in the abstinence model over the past 20 years.
The Christian rehab programme is nestled in rural Scotland
None of the current participants were directly referred by the NHS, they are all “self-referrals” who complete a Sunnybrae application process.
The unit has received more than £700,000 of taxpayer funds.
Paul Beaton, course supervisor, also revealed their internal data suggests more than half of residents either relapse back into their old life or are unaccounted for.
He said: “People come to us with pretty much every area of their lives broken, physically, mentally, emotionally, financially.
Paul Beaton
“We help them get to the root causes to give them healing, peace and freedom from the issues that drive them to substances in the first place.
“We really focus on them having a strong ‘move on’ plan for the end. We really work hard to set them up for the win. Our success rate, the number of people going on to lead clean, free, sober lives is 45%. Which is great.”
Some experts in the drug recovery sector believe other rehab models are more effective.
Kirsten Horsburgh, from the Scottish Drugs Forum, said: “We are supportive of residential rehab being available when they want it. Pushing people towards an abstinence situation is not helpful because it can increase people’s risk. Abstinence should be available but it’s not a superior approach.
“Having services available for people when they want to stop using drugs is important but it’s not an emergency response and that is often missing from these conversations.”
The latest official figures revealing the most up-to-date drugs death toll in Scotland will be revealed on Tuesday.
Pete Aitken says his daughter Hannah would still be alive if she hadn’t been sent to a series of “failing” mental health hospitals, which made her increasingly unwell.
Warning: This article contains references to suicide
Hannah Aitken was 22 when she took her own life two years ago. Her death has left her family in turmoil.
“I think about Hannah every hour of every day, more than once, every hour, every day,” her dad Pete said.
Throughout the family home are photos, candles and purple flowers, Hannah’s favourite colour. Her parents have planted a tree in the garden where her beloved trampoline once stood.
Pete Aitken, whose daughter Hannah died by suicide in 2023
Hannah had autism and ADHD and struggled with her mental health. In 2017, she was sent to Huntercombe Hospital-Stafford. It was in special measures when she arrived.
Pete says the unit made Hannah worse. “I don’t believe that they gave her any care or treatment there that helped her.”
Over a period of four years, Hannah was sent to six different mental health hospitals. The majority were publicly funded and privately run.
Three were rated by the care regulator, the CQC, either ‘inadequate or ‘requires improvement’. Two of the units were closed down while Hannah was a patient.
“That to me is an indication of how bad the system is, and how bad the care that she received was,” Pete said.
“All they could do was… like prison keep her safe, but not give her any quality of life. They took all that away from her.”
‘I don’t believe that they gave her any care’, Pete says
Over the years, Sky News has investigated failings within the mental health system, including the Huntercombe Group, which ran a number of hospitals.
Hannah emailed Sky News in 2023 following one of our reports to share her story.
She wrote: “I will never forget what I was put through… I put up with so much and it’s only now I realised it wasn’t right, for years I blamed myself.”
Hannah never fully recovered from her hospital admissions. In September 2023, she took a fatal dose of poison, which she had bought online.
Her family are now campaigning for a change in the law governing poisons.
Family photos of Hannah Aitken, who died in 2023
Her dad said: “One gram of this poison is lethal. We found out from Hannah’s inquest she ordered a kilogramme of 99.6% purity.
“There is a legitimate use for it, but we understand that the concentration for that is something like less than 1%.”
Hannah’s death once again raises questions about why the NHS outsources mental health services to failing private providers.
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An NHS England spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are with Hannah’s family at this incredibly difficult time.
“The NHS has repeatedly made clear that all services must provide safe, high-quality care, irrespective of whether they are NHS or independent sector-led, and we continue to work closely with the CQC to monitor, identify and take appropriate action where it is needed.”
Elli Investments Group, the owners of The Huntercombe Group until 2021, has said they regret that these hospitals, which were independently managed, failed to meet expectations
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
UK
Prince William plans ‘ruthless approach’ towards Prince Andrew, as lawyer for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims predicts further leaks
Prince William is planning to take a “ruthless approach” towards Prince Andrew when he is king, according to reports, as a US lawyer predicts the scandal engulfing the royal “is not going away” and more stories will “leak out”.
The Sunday Times suggests William will ban his uncle from “all aspects of royal life” because of the ongoing risk to the Royal Family‘s reputation after a series of damaging revelations.
It comes amid reports that Andrew tried to get the Metropolitan Police to dig up dirt for a smear campaign against his sexual assault accuser Virginia Giuffre back in 2011.
Gloria Allred, who represents many of the victims of the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, believes he will not be “let off the hook”.
“This is not going away. Even though he’s no longer a duke, and Sarah Ferguson is no longer a duchess, it’s not going away,” the US lawyer told Sky News.
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Who pushed Andrew to drop his titles?
Andrew relinquished his Duke of York title and remaining honours on Friday evening, after a series of fresh stories linked to the late Ms Giuffre, who was trafficked by Epstein. She died in April, aged 41, with her family saying said she “lost her life to suicide”.
She alleged she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17, allegations he has always denied.
“The fact that Virginia is now deceased – may she rest in peace – doesn’t mean it’s over for Prince Andrew. It’s not over. More will come to leak out,” Ms Allred added.
Ms Giuffre’s posthumous memoirs, which are released on Tuesday, claim Andrew insisted she sign a one-year gag order – to prevent details of her allegations tarnishing the late Queen’s platinum jubilee.
And earlier this week, emails emerged showing that Andrew remained in contact with Epstein, several months after he said he had stopped contact.
The former duke paid to settle a civil sexual assault case with Ms Giuffre in 2022, despite insisting he had never met her.
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Windsor’s take on Prince Andrew
Reports of attempted smear campaign
It has now been reported that Andrew passed Ms Giuffre’s date of birth and social security number to his taxpayer-funded bodyguard in 2011, asking him to investigate.
He is said to have emailed the late Queen’s then-deputy press secretary and told him of his request to his protection officer, and also suggested Ms Giuffre had a criminal record, according to the Mail on Sunday.
Sky News has contacted the Met for comment. A spokesperson for the force told the PA news agency: “We are aware of media reporting and are looking into the claims made.”
The prince’s alleged attempt, on which the Met officer is not said to have acted, came in 2011, hours before the publication of the famous photograph of Andrew with his arm around Ms Giuffre in London, which he has claimed was doctored.
The Mail on Sunday said it obtained the email from disclosures held by the US congress.
“It would also seem she has a criminal record in the states,” Andrew said to the former press secretary, according to one email published by the newspaper. “I have given her DoB and social security number for investigation with XXX the on duty PPO.”
Ms Giuffre’s family responded, saying she did not have a criminal record, the newspaper said.
Read more from Sky News:
How Prince Andrew allegations unfolded
Everything we know about titles decision
William and Camilla’s influential roles
In her book, titled Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir Of Surviving Abuse And Fighting For Justice, she wrote, according to The Telegraph: “As devastating as this interview was for Prince Andrew, for my legal team it was like an injection of jet fuel.
“Its contents would not only help us build an ironclad case against the prince but also open the door to potentially subpoenaing his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, and their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.”
The Duke of York and the Prince of Wales at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral last month. Pic: PA
Andrew, who remains a prince and continues to live in the Crown Estate property Royal Lodge, said on Friday that the “continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family”.
He insisted he was putting his “family and country first” and would stop using “my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me”.
Ms Allred told Sky News she felt Andrew’s statement on Friday, describing the scandal as a “distraction”, was an “insult” to Epstein’s victims.
“What it’s saying [the statement] is it’s continued bad PR for the monarchy,” she said.
“All right, I’m happy about this small consequence that he has to pay… no longer a duke, but look, he’s living a privileged life while many victims are still suffering from the harm that was done by many people involved with Jeffrey Epstein.”
UK
Prince Andrew insisted on ‘gag order’ to stop allegations spoiling Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, memoir claims
Prince Andrew insisted his accuser, Virginia Giuffre, sign a one-year gag order – to prevent details of her allegations tarnishing the late Queen’s platinum jubilee, her memoirs have claimed.
Andrew relinquished his Duke of York title and remaining honours on Friday evening.
It came after discussions with King Charles, in consultation with the Prince of Wales, both of whom wanted to bring an end to the long-lasting scandal.
But, according to The Telegraph, Ms Giuffre’s book, which is due out on Tuesday, is focusing further attention on the sexual assault allegations and the prince’s friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, which led to the royal’s downfall.
She tells how Andrew’s “disastrous” Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis was like an “injection of jet fuel” for her legal team, and it raised the possibility of “subpoenaing” his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, and daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie and drawing them into the legal case.
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Prince Andrew’s ’embarrassed’ Royals ‘for years’
The Telegraph also reports Ms Giuffre’s claims that she got “more out of” Andrew than a reported £12m payout and $2m (around £1.4m) donation to her charity because she had “an acknowledgement that I and many other women had been victimised and a tacit pledge to never deny it again”.
The former duke paid to settle a civil sexual assault case with Ms Giuffre in 2022, despite insisting he had never met her.
Ms Giuffre alleged she was forced to have sex with the prince when she was 17, after being trafficked by Epstein. Andrew continues to vehemently deny her allegations.
Read more:
Andrew giving up title is ‘Victory for Virginia’
Everything we know about Andrew losing titles
Prince Andrew: A timeline of events
Queen Elizabeth II was celebrating her platinum jubilee in 2022 – the first British monarch to reach the milestone – as the civil case against her son was gathering pace.
It was settled nine days after she reached the 70th anniversary of her accession.
According to the Telegraph, Ms Giuffre, who died in April, reveals in her book: “I agreed to a one-year gag order, which seemed important to the prince because it ensured that his mother’s platinum jubilee would not be tarnished any more than it already had been.”
Parades, processions, concerts and street parties were held across the UK in celebration of the Platinum Jubilee. Pic: PA
In January 2022, a US judge ruled the civil case against Andrew could go ahead, and the Queen went on to strip him of his honorary military roles, with the prince also giving up his HRH style.
‘Devastating’ interview
His 2019 Newsnight interview, which he hoped would clear his name, backfired when he said he “did not regret” his friendship with convicted paedophile Epstein, who trafficked Ms Giuffre.
Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre (then Roberts) in 2001 – a picture the prince claimed had been doctored. Pic: Shutterstock
Andrew also said he had “no recollection” of ever meeting Ms Giuffre and added he could not have had sex with her in March 2001 because he was at Pizza Express with his daughter Beatrice on the day in question.
Ms Giuffre, whose book is called Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, wrote, according to The Telegraph: “As devastating as this interview was for Prince Andrew, for my legal team it was like an injection of jet fuel.
“Its contents would not only help us build an ironclad case against the prince but also open the door to potentially subpoenaing his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, and their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.”
‘Amazed he was stupid enough’
She also told how Andrew had “stonewalled” her legal team for months before settlement discussions began moving very quickly when his deposition was scheduled for March 2022.
Ms Giuffre also wrote she was “amazed” that a member of the royal family would be “stupid enough” to appear in public with the convicted paedophile, after a photo of the pair walking in New York emerged.
Andrew, who remains a prince and continues to live in the Crown Estate property Royal Lodge, said on Friday the “continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the royal family”.
He insisted he was putting his “family and country first” and would stop using “my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me”.
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