Heroin users to be given Class A drug twice daily in pilot recovery scheme

‘By removing street heroin from the equation you remove the need to commit crime to fund addiction and the impact on local residents and businesses’

A heroin addict's arm; the worst users in Middlesbrough will get the drug free in the pilot scheme (Getty)

Fifteen of the worst drug addicts in a northeastern town are to be given medical-grade heroin twice a day in a pioneering trial backed by a police and crime commissioner.

In the first scheme of its kind in the UK, users of the class A drug in Middlesbrough will be handed diamorphine.

The aim is to cut crime, reduce the number of addicts dying and increase their chances of recovery.

The office of Barry Coppinger, the Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner, is part-funding the scheme, known as the Middlesbrough Heroin Assisted Treatment (HAT) programme.

Mr Coppinger said the policies of the past had failed, and the pilot had been drawn up following extensive research and evidential study from home and abroad.

It will focus on up to 15 of Middlesbrough’s most “at risk” individuals, for whom all other treatment plans have failed, and who have been flagged up by other agencies.

Participants will visit a clinic twice a day, where the drug will be administered under supervision.

Organisers say that as addicts are freed from the need to constantly fund drug deals, they can use their time to get help, improve their lives and return to mainstream society.

Mr Coppinger said: “Police need to continue to relentlessly target the organised gangs and dealers behind the supply of street heroin and, at the same time, we need to provide effective treatment to release users from their snares and take early preventive action to prevent others becoming addicted.

“There are numerous studies that show HAT is cost-effective.”

In Middlesbrough the most prolific 20 drug-dependent offenders have cost the public purse almost £800,000 over two years – and that’s based only on crime detected, he said.

The new scheme is set to cost about £250,000 a year.

“By removing street heroin from the equation, you remove the need to commit crime to fund addiction and the impact this has on local residents and businesses.

“You remove the health risks of street heroin and the associated drugs litter, and you remove the drain on public services, including health and police.

“In addition, you halt the flow of funding to drugs gangs.”

Clinical lead Daniel Ahmed said for many drug users for whom other treatment had failed the cycle of committing crime to raise funds, going to prison and being released often only ends when they die.

“Before joining the pilot, each of the cohort is medically assessed,” he added.

Additional reporting by PA