Partner's drug death anguish
THE PARTNER of a man who died after taking speed has hit out at the "too short" prison sentences given to a Lynn couple who were dealing the killer drug.
Donna Watts (40) and Adam Eates (43) were jailed for a total of 12 months at Norwich Crown Court on Wednesday after they were linked to the death of 24-year-old Darryl Middleton, who died from a massive brain haemorrhage.
An inquest into his death last Friday heard it was extremely likely he suffered the haemorrhage after ingesting the drug, which can arise when someone is not a regular user. This week the court heard that Mr Middleton's death in January last year sparked police drug raids, and at the homes of Watts and Eates up to 7,000 worth of amphetamines (speed) and drugs paraphernalia was discovered.
Watts was living at 68 Le Strange Avenue, North Lynn, the home of her mother Dorothy Bell, who turned a "blind eye" to her daughter's drug-dealing.
There, officers discovered more than 56 grams of amphetamine, with a street value of between 2,500 to 5,000, along with scales and other drugs paraphernalia.
They also searched Eates' home in West Norfolk where they found more of the class B drug, with a street value of between 1,500 and 2,000.
Watts and Eates admitted possessing amphetamine with intent to supply, and were given three months and nine months in prison, respectively. Bell (62) admitted being concerned with the supply of the drug and was given three months in prison, suspended for 12 months, with a 12-month supervision order.
Yesterday, Mr Middleton's partner, Lindsey Muller (23), mother of his five-year-old daughter Courtney, said the sentences on Watts and Eates were "too short" to be an effective deterrent.
She said: "I don't think that's long enough, but I don't know who to blame for it. It's just drugs everywhere, a worldwide problem, and it's taking people's lives needlessly.
"I have a life without Darryl now and they just get that – it doesn't seem fair.
"I understand that the prisons are full, but what are nine months and three months going to teach them? They are going to come straight out and do it again."
Miss Muller, now living in Orford Place, West Winch, said she and Mr Middleton, a keen angler, were living at Priory Road in Downham on January 20 last year when he went to get the speed from Lynn.
"Darryl had always suffered from depression, but I don't really know what led him to go and get the speed. If he hadn't gone to get it that day he would probably still be here now," she said.
On returning home, he went upstairs to take some of the drug. Miss Muller went out but returned within minutes after getting a phone call from her brother's girlfriend, who was still at the premises, telling her that there was something wrong with Darryl.
Miss Muller recalled: "He was laying on the bed stiff and couldn't talk or anything. I rang the ambulance then followed him to the hospital in Lynn, where he was in an unconscious state."
She stayed at his bedside, but he never regained consciousness and died three days later.A verdict of misadventure was recorded at the inquest.
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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