Heroin fatality ‘a terrible accident' (From South Wales Guardian)

Heroin fatality ‘a terrible accident'

9:45am Wednesday 15th July 2009

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AN Ammanford mother-of-two has received a 12-month suspended jail term after a “tragic and terrible accident” saw her boyfriend overdose on a lethal cocktail of heroin and diazepam.

Darren Smith, from Mountain Road, Brynaman, was found dead on October 23, 2008, at a Barry flat belonging to Sali-Ann Jones.

Jones, aged 29, admitted supplying the 33-year-old with heroin.

The court heard that heroin addict Jones bought four £10 bags of the Class A drug, with the couple each contributing £20.

Defence barrister Paul Hobson said the couple then went to Jones’ flat, took some drugs and went to bed. When Jones woke at 2pm next day, Smith – the father of a four-year-old girl – was dead.

Judge Isabel Parry told the court: “The defendant has not been charged with causing the death of Darren Smith.

“This sentencing exercise is nothing to do with that very tragic event.

“The court always has a choice in how it presents a case, and in this case it chose to present a charge based on supply of drugs.”

Mr Hobson said Smith – who used steroids and diazepam – told Jones he had previously taken heroin, leading Judge Parry to highlight contrasting views of the 33-year-old bodybuilder.

“His family members have a different perception to the defendant about the lifestyle of the deceased in the days leading up to his death,” she said.

The court heard that the amount of heroin in Smith’s body would not normally have been fatal, but that the drug interacted with diazepam he had taken during the evening.

“The presence of diazepam in his blood would have exacerbated the effects resulting from heroin use to cause respiratory failure,” said Judge Parry. “This was a tragic and terrible accident.”

Jones also received a 52-week sentence for supplying heroin to a colleague and a 26-week sentence for possession of £20 worth of heroin discovered at her flat following Smith’s death.

All sentences were made to run concurrently and suspended for two years.

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