Drug overdose deaths on Teesside are caused by "lethal cocktails", an investigation has found.

Drug overdose deaths on Teesside are caused by "lethal cocktails", an investigation has found. In 2007, 18 people died from drug abuse - many of whom were in treatment programmes - and Cleveland Police ordered an investigation. It found that Teesside did not have a worse problem than other areas but more needed to be done to help victims. Experts recommended better education on the dangers of taking mixtures of drugs or "cocktails", even small quantities. They also recommended addicts who dropped out of treatment be more rigorously followed up. The report found that those most at risk of becoming drug addicts were white, single, jobless men aged between 30 and 40, and living alone. The inquiry was carried out by police and health professionals. Professor Peter Kelly, executive director for public health on Teesside, said: "Every drug-related death is a tragedy for all involved. "This work highlights the risks associated with substance abuse and makes recommendations to improve the already very good local services further."

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killing of Richard Petty over a mere £80 sheds a harsh light on the perils of Teesside’s drugs underworld

killing of Richard Petty over a mere £80 sheds a harsh light on the perils of Teesside’s drugs underworld, even at its lower levels. CCTV captured the murderers’ movements with chilling precision. Into the lift, up to the seventh floor, back down, then out - in four minutes.
CCTV captured the murderers’ movements with chilling precision. Into the lift, up to the seventh floor, back down, then out - in four minutes.“They had at the most 90 seconds in that flat,” says Detective Inspector Andy Greenwood, above, from Cleveland Police’s murder investigation team, who retraced their steps at the Melsonby Court flats.Mark ‘Peo’ Pearson and Joe Tingle were hardly sophisticated drugs kingpins living in high-rolling opulence.As heroin users themselves, they had advanced up the food chain to using at least one “lieutenant” to sell drugs for them and share the profits.But their savage execution of Richard Petty in his Billingham home between 2.36 and 2.40pm on March 25 was every bit as vicious and ruthlessly efficient as any gangland ‘hit’.With heroin and half a bottle of vodka inside him, Pearson walked silently into the living room and spoke to Mr Petty.Without giving him a chance to reply, Pearson was seen swiping and lunging at him with a large kitchen knife, twice thrusting the blade into his body up to the hilt.Richard Petty was left lying on his back, dying in a pool of blood with seven stab wounds, one into the heart.“It was a totally unprovoked attack on a man who was sitting in the living room of his flat, unprotected,” says Det Insp Greenwood.

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Adam Greener was armed with a silver revolver when he got into a woman’s car at the junction of Roman Road and Rockliffe Road in Linthorpe

Adam Greener was armed with a silver revolver when he got into a woman’s car at the junction of Roman Road and Rockliffe Road in Linthorpe and said, “Drive or I’ll shoot you.”Under the influence of drugs, he tried to snatch the driver’s handbag from the passenger seat of the Peugeot 206, which was stationary in traffic.Greener, 20, of Westbourne Road, Middlesbrough, admitted two charges at Teesside Crown Court yesterday.He pleaded guilty to attempting to rob 46-year-old mum Kay Cotton, from the Eston area, of her handbag on January 15, and possessing a firearm or imitation firearm with intent to commit robbery.Prosecutor Ian West said: “She describes going back to her car after going to the shop.“A man, the defendant, gets into the passenger seat of the car. He says, ‘Drive.’“When she doesn’t immediately do that, he produces this weapon and says, ‘Drive or I’ll shoot you.’“The defendant accepts what Mrs Cotton says he said when he got into the car.”The hooded raider fled empty-handed, while Mrs Cotton got out of the car and was shaken but not injured.She was taken into a nearby shop and given a cup of tea to calm her nerves until police arrived and sealed off the area in Roman Road.Greener had been accused of attempted kidnap, but the Crown are no longer proceeding with that charge because of his guilty pleas.He had no previous serious crimes which would classify him as a dangerous offender.But if it is discovered that he had a prohibited weapon, he could face a minimum sentence of five years in prison.It has still not been confirmed for certain whether the weapon, found in Mrs Cotton’s car, was an imitation or real firearm.“There were apparently bullets in the chambers of this revolver, but the barrel was blocked at the bridge,” Mr West told the court yesterday.It is not certain whether it could be adapted to fire a lethal missile, he added. Experts are to be consulted, and there may be a court hearing to decide the issue.
Peter Sabiston, defending, said Greener was under the influence of Class C drugs at the time.
The judge, Recorder Michael Slater, adjourned sentencing until April 11 for reports to be prepared on Greener, who was remanded in custody. The attack was described as an “isolated incident”.
But it prompted Cleveland Police to urge drivers to take extra care when stationary in built-up areas, to lock doors while travelling, sound horns if in danger and not to leave bags on seats or in footwells.

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