Heroin stash smuggled to patient Susan Newcombe at Medway Maritime Hospital inside chocolate bo
Susan Newcombe was in Medway Maritime Hospital for an
operation
by Lynn Cox
A hospital patient was caught with a syringe full of heroin
smuggled to her in a box of chocolates.
Susan Newcombe, 41, was in Medway Maritime Hospital for an
operation when visitors brought her the sweets, a court heard.
But as nurses helped her to the toilet later, they discovered
the dirty syringe between her thighs.
Newcombe, who has been a drug addict for almost 20 years,
pleaded guilty to possessing heroin when she appeared before Medway
magistrates.
Katherine Lewis, defending, said: "She was clean for three years
but her daughter died in a car accident and she started using
again.
"She is trying to get clean and was on a methadone script, but
the
"The blame lies with the person who brought it in for you, that was a stupid person..." – magistrate Sandra Paine
hospital could not
give her any and this is why she had the heroin on her.
"She is now back on [methadone] and started it last week."
Newcombe, of Mill Road, Gillingham, earlier admitted stealing
bags full of items that had been left outside the British Heart
Foundation shop in Gillingham High Street.
Newcombe and Ian Miles, 42, of the same address, were walking
home late at night when they spotted the bags and decided to take
them.
During that court appearance, magistrates heard
Newcombe has more than 30 convictions.
She was given a nine-month community order for the theft
offence.
Now magistrates have given Newcombe a 12-month conditional
discharge and ordered her to pay £85 court costs.
Chairman of the bench Sandra Paine said: "You were in hospital
- this is despicable.
"The blame lies with the person who brought it in for you, that
was a stupid person.
"Shame on the person who brought it in for you."
A spokesman for Medway NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Medway
Maritime Hospital, said: "If we see illegal activity we report it
to the police."
08/03/13
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