Mother of overdose woman urges public to ‘shop dealers’

Family backs campaign after father found heroin addict dead in her flat

By Jane Candlish and Donna MacAllister

Published:

ANGUISH: Kate Shanks has called on the public to shop drug dealers. David Whittaker-Smith

The mother of a young Inverness woman who died from a heroin overdose has urged the public “to shop the drug dealers” to stop others suffering a similar fate.

Suzanne Shanks, 30, was discovered dead in her Culloden flat by her father, Gordon, in July.

She had battled heroin addiction for more than 10 years despite the efforts of her family to help her quit.

Yesterday her mother Kate joined Northern Constabulary and other agencies to call for the public to pass on details of any drug abuse, either to officers or to the anonymous Crimestoppers line.

Mrs Shanks, 57, of Birnie Crescent, Elgin, who runs Elgin Refrigeration Services with her husband, said at the launch of the Christmas Ditch the Dealer campaign: “When Suzanne was on drugs she had a horrendous life. She was into crime to fund her habit. When she wasn’t on drugs she would drink very heavily to kill the urge, but she got into trouble with that too.

“It was a vicious circle. She would get clean but the craving never left her and she battled each day against that craving.”

Mrs Shanks said that she and her husband remained devastated by their daughter’s death, but added that she was putting her energy into trying to prevent others from going through the same heartbreak and devastation.

Mrs Shanks said: “I have been focused on trying to stop it happening to any other family. We need to get rid of drug dealers. If drugs were not so easily available then Suzanne would still be here.”

The businesswoman also gave a grim insight into life with an addict, and said she backed Aberdeen City Council’s proposals to give addicts controlled doses of heroin instead of substitute methadone. She also argued for more understanding from drug agency workers.

When her daughter breached the drug rehabilitation programme she would often be denied methadone for three weeks as a punishment – and her daughter’s convulsive agony on one occasion impelled her to give her money for a fix.

Mrs Shanks said: “It would be OK if they cut them off for one day but three weeks forces them back down the road to get the drugs illegally.”

Mrs Shanks has undergone courses in drug addiction and has offered help to any parent who is suffering what she went through.

Detective Superintendent Ralph Noble said that Northern Constabulary has arrested 47 organised criminals involved with drugs this year and recovered drugs with a street value of £866,000. But he added that this success was not the end of efforts.

Mr Noble said: “Drugs and the misuse of drugs is indiscriminate in picking victims. Users themselves are the victims of suppliers who treat drugs as a business.”

Police in Inverness can be contacted on 01463 715555, or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.