Drug horror 'could happen to anyone'
THE distraught father of a heroin victim has appealed for parents to keep a close eye on their children.
Michael MacRory, 20, died on July 27, 2007, from morphine intoxication, Ballymena Coroners' Court ruled yesterday.
His 55-year-old father, Seamus, said that "you could quite as easily go out in Ballymena and buy a loaf of bread as buy heroin and cocaine".
"It is a fact of life in Ballymena," he said.
Mr MacRory said that in the first 18 months after his son died there were "six heroin-related deaths in Ballymena".
"And that is in a one-mile radius in the town," he said.
"People bury their heads about this and nothing has been done that I can see. It is not good enough."
Coroner Brian Sherrard, sitting in Ballymena, said that every time he comes to the town he seems to be dealing with a drugs case.
Heroin seemed to be a "cancer in this area", he said.
Mr MacRory told the coroner that his son was found to have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD] when he was aged around four, soon after his mother died.
He said his son had attended school until he was 16 but had not been trained for any job as he had "a very short attention span".
Mr MacRory said that, from being diagnosed, Michael was "in and out of trouble", adding that his son went from doing "silly things to more serious things".
"But I had no idea he was taking drugs because of his personality. He could change dramatically. I look back now and maybe I should have noticed."
The coroner heard that Michael MacRory had wanted to change while in Hydebank Young Offenders' Centre, from where he was released three weeks before his death.
During the inquest, the police officer who attended the scene of Michael's death — the house he shared with his girlfriend of six years Diana Ward — said no drugs paraphernalia was found.
State pathologist, Professor Jack Crane, said the only mark on Michael's body was a pin prick on his left forearm into a vein, where he had presumably administered the drug.
Professor Crane said that, when administered, the drug heroin is diamorphine, which changes into morphine in the body.
He said Michael — whose blood also revealed he had taken diazepam, codeine and cannabis — would have gone unconscious due to the effects of morphine.
He said the young man would have been alive for some time after administering the drug.
Prof Crane added that "it is not about the quantity or the quality, but the person's tolerance of it".
He said with someone going into hospital or into prison their tolerance level can change, and taking the same amount they always take can have a "profound effect".
Governor of Hydebank Young Offenders' Centre, David Dowds, said Michael had eventually gone for counselling for drug addiction.
He said Michael was released from custody suddenly without a proper discharge plan.
Probation manager Julie Smyth said in an interview in July 2007 Michael had told of his "regret that he ever got involved in heroin". She said probation officers felt if Michael had been in custody for longer it would have been beneficial.
Mr Sherrard said: “All of us can remember what we used to do when we were younger and as we get older and more mature we change. Michael had every opportunity to change in the rest of his life.”
Speaking outside the court, Mr MacRory called for people to recognise that “drugs have no class distinction”.
“It does not just happen to the working class, this could happen to anybody,” he said.
“Parents need to be on their guard because children are going out to formals and all of that and drug dealers are targeting them.
“I am asking for parents to be on the look out to see changes in their children because dealers really are trying to go after the young kids nowadays.
“It now seems to be an accepted thing to smoke cannabis and take heroin, especially amongst teenagers and schoolchildren.”
Mr MacRory said if there was more contact between the services inside and outside prison, it would help another user.
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