Downs and ups in the life of Brian; Former addict rebuilding his life after cycle of drugs & crime

Huddersfield Daily Examiner (Huddersfield, England), June 12, 2009

Byline: SAM CASEY

In the latest in a series of features for National Tackling Drugs Week, reporter SAM CASEY talks to Brian Corner about his battle with drug abuse

BRIAN Corner's memories of childhood are less about toys and tantrums and more about drug addiction and crime.

Growing up in Leeds as the son of a heavy drinker, the troubled youngster had easy access to alcohol and was boozing himself by the age of 12.

"I can hardly ever remember my mum being sober," he says.

"The foundation for the cycle of addiction was set for me at a very early age." From alcohol, it was an easy transition to taking cannabis and sniffing glue.

"I remember sitting around with my mum and her boyfriend smoking cannabis from a bong," he adds..

Before long he was associating with older criminals who introduced him to amphetamines and LSD. He was used by a criminal gang to climb into open windows, open doors to properties or steal himself.

He even started dealing cannabis at a local school to pay for alcohol for his mum and clothes and food for himself.

Inevitably, it was not long before he ended up in custody and, at the age of 15, he was sent to a young offenders' institution for burglary.

Inside, he was introduced to heroin and crack.

He says: "When you start getting into those kind of drugs, the money becomes a problem.

The intensity of the addiction is much stronger." At its peak, Brian had a pounds 500-a-day habit.

He went on to commit a string of offences to fund his addiction, including street robberies, armed robberies and ram raids. By now, he was dealing class A drugs as well as cannabis.

After a spell in rehabilitation in London following a conviction for one of countless offences, things started to change.

He managed to leave Leeds - and the people who had been a negative influence.

He moved to Dewsbury before ending up in Huddersfield where, at the age of 20, he was put in touch with Lifeline, an organisation that helps people with addictions.

Staff arranged for him to be given a prescription for methadone - a substitute designed to relieve class A users of their addiction.

He says: "I had always used street drugs.

After years and years you get sick of buying and selling and associating with people you don't necessarily want to be around - it becomes like groundhog day. Being able to move on was a huge relief." Brian started going to Huddersfield Technical College to try to gain the skills he missed out on because of his unsettled schooling and started playing football.

He managed to stay clean for about nine months before he was contacted again by his mother, who was living in the North East.

Having moved up to be with her, his life spiralled out of control again.

After being convicted for two burglaries, carried out with a weapon, he was given a two-and-a-half year jail term.

But he believes being inside was one of the best things to happen to him.

"I stopped taking all the drugs and started to develop myself," he says. "I became stronger as an individual." He started to play chess and study psychology, philosophy and sociology.

After serving half his jail term he got out and went into therapy.

He did some voluntary work for Lifeline in the North East and went on to do some part-time work with Teesside University, which eventually gave him a full-time job working as an analyst in the university laboratories.

Even being made redundant last year did not lead to the kind of regression that could have led back to drugs.

Now 32, Brian is well on the way to rebuilding his life.

He says: "It's one step at a time, but I know myself now and I'm a much more grounded person. I want to build a career for myself now." Janice Morill, who was Brian's drugs worker when he first walked into Lifeline and now works for the Kirklees Drug Intervention Programme team, said: "You see a lot of people coming through the door again and again, so it's amazing to see how Brian is doing now. It makes you feel your job's worthwhile."

CAPTION(S):

RECOVERY: Brian Corner