Our girl died in "whirlpool of hell" (From South Wales Argus)
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Our girl died in "whirlpool of hell"
9:54am Thursday 8th March 2007 in News By Jon Doel
AT TWO weeks old, Sarah Harris was an adorable baby and at two and a half, she was a toddler with a cheeky smile.
At 16, she looked like a typical fresh-faced teenager.
But at 21, she was dead of a heroin overdose after descending into what her parents describe as a "whirlpool of hell" because of her drug addiction.
After an inquest into her death yesterday, her parents Alan and Kim Harris described their heartache at watching their "bubbly and polite" daughter spiral into a world of drugs and crime.
And they issued a warning to other youngsters not to get involved in drugs.
They say they tried everything to free Sarah from the grip of her addiction after she began using drugs, aged 15. She died just a week after her 21st birthday on November 10 2005.
The inquest at Newport coroner's court heard yesterday how Sarah's lifeless body was found at a flat on Hillview, Gaer.
The troubled former Lliswerry High pupil had been released from prison just 10 days earlier after being jailed for seven months for pulling a knife on a man during an altercation in the city.
She had successfully completed a drug rehabilitation programme while in prison.
Deputy coroner Wendy James recorded a verdict of misadventure, saying Sarah's decreased tolerance of the drug following her dry spell meant her body could not cope with the amount she injected.
Mr Harris, 50, from Elgar Circle, Alway, said afterwards:"When you start you don't know where it is going to end.
"Sadly I do know what the end is.
"She got in with the wrong crowd when she was 15 or 16 and started smoking cannabis at first."
Mr Harris said his daughter had a promising future before succumbing to drug addiction.
"She was a lovely girl. She was so clever and wanted to be a solicitor or a nurse when she was little.
"But she went from being a polite young girl to someone you wouldn't want to meet on a dark night.
"We would shout at her, follow her, try and keep her in but it was a means to no end. When the addiction hooks on to you, you've lost.
"She looked like the life had been drained out of her."
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| DEATH CAUSE | ||||
| A pathologist said the cause of Sarah's death was a result of presumed drug intake, the inquest heard.
Ms James said Sarah's body was found at a flat belonging to friend Terrence Meek. She said Mr Meek admitted supplying Sarah with heroin days before her death and giving her needles on the day of her death. But, she added, there was no forensic evidence linking him to the needle used and no evidence that he had provided her with the drug used on that day. |
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