“Known for it”
In April this year Hastings was identified by the Office of National Statistics as having the third highest rate of deaths involving heroin and morphine misuse of all local authority areas in England and Wales. Only Blackpool and Burnley had worse records per head of population for the year 2016. And the statistics for 2017, which can only be compiled once the results of inquests are analysed and tabulated, are not likely to look any better.
We reported in our last issue the inquest into the demise of 41-year-old Sarah Leah on 31st December in a flat in Mount Pleasant Road after a day’s drinking in the streets followed by an ingested cocktail of heroin and cocaine. Last week the same coroner Alan Craze heard a very similar account of the death of Ciara McGrane, aged 35, who died on 15th December at her home in Clifton Court, Ore after taking a combination of Class A drugs to follow a day of binge drinking. The toxicologist examining her body found 204 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliletres of blood – over two and a half times the legal limit for driving. In addition there was evidence of substantial heroin and crack cocaine consumption only a few hours before her death.
She had gone to a cashpoint at four in the morning to get out £20 cash to score the drugs, which she shared with another user named Paula Austin. Ms McGrane was dead before noon. Ms Austin called for an ambulance crew. They attempted to revive her but could not.
Ms McGrane had held down a job as dental receptionist despite a long history of alcoholism. She had two daughters, now aged five and ten, removed from her care by local social services and placed with their father’s family. By 2016 she was drinking a bottle of vodka a day and, like Ms Leah, had been referred to STAR, the East Sussex Drug and Alcohol Recovery Service, for help with her addiction. They treated her between September 2016 and March 2017 for alcohol dependency. But no agency appears to have picked up on her resort to hard drugs.
Ms McGrane’s mother attended the inquest hearing. She told the coroner “I knew she liked a drink.” She expressed shock at the account of her daughter’s drug abuse. But then she added “Hastings is known for it.”
We invited STAR to comment on the recent record of heroin and morphine deaths in Hastings, but they have not responded.
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https://www.hastingsindependentpress.co.uk/articles/news/known-for-it/https://www.hastingsindependentpress.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/news.jpghttps://www.hastingsindependentpress.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/news.jpgNewsheroin,morphine,Office of National StatisticsIn April this year Hastings was identified by the Office of National Statistics as having the third highest rate of deaths involving heroin and morphine misuse of all local authority areas in England and Wales. Only Blackpool and Burnley had worse records per head of population for the year 2016. And...Hugh SullivanHugh Sullivan[email protected]AdministratorHastings Independent Press
This has so many incorrect statements! You really should get your facts right before writing such drivel! The children weren’t placed with the fathers family, they were placed with their father, the mother KNEW about the drugs and alcohol issues and is in fact an alcoholic herself, Ciara McGrane was not living in Clifton Court in Ore, I could go on but will leave you to work out the rest yourselves!
I am related to Ciara and thank you for this information.