Hooray for the UK! Manslaughter Conviction Overturned in Methadone Case.

Death conviction quashed by Lords

by KEITH BULL

A RECOVERING Uttoxeter junkie jailed after being found guilty of killing his friend by giving him methadone has had his manslaughter conviction quashed on appeal. Adam James Wilson, formerly of Ellastone, gave Ryan Farnsworth, of Yew Tree Road, Hatton, and his girlfriend, Natalie Tyers, of Hilton, the heroin substitute in July, 2006. Both dangerously mixed alcohol with the drug, resulting in the death of Mr Farnsworth, who had just celebrated his 24th birthday. Ms Tyers endured heart and hearing problems due to oxygen starvation after the incident. On July 28, all three had taken an undisclosed amount of ecstasy before heading to the Hilton Brook pub in the early evening. The night was supposed to be a leaving celebration for Ms Tyers, who was due to go out and work as a representative in Tenerife over the summer months. After several drinks, the trio eventually ended up in a beauty spot in Wootton, near Ashbourne, at around 3am and were said to be in "high spirits". Wilson, who was prescribed methadone to help him overcome a heroin addiction, offered the synthetic drug to his friends as he thought it would ease the effects of the ecstasy. The pair, who had each taken around 50 millilitres of methadone, became comatose due to the effects of mixing alcohol with the drug. They started 'snoring', and Wilson thought they had fallen asleep. However, the noises were being made due to the couple's blocked airways. Wilson lifted the couple into his car and drove to the King's Head pub, in Main Street, Hilton, at around 5.30am. Later in the morning, while the duo were still 'sleeping' in his vehicle in the car park of the pub, Wilson went into the premises for drinks with a friend. When they came out at noon, they realised Mr Farnsworth's lips had turned blue and began to worry. The couple were taken to the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary, in Derby, where Mr Farnsworth was pronounced dead. Wilson, 28, was convicted of manslaughter and supplying methadone at Nottingham Crown Court in March, 2007. However, in a landmark October, 2007, ruling, the nation's highest court - the House of Lords - decided if a toxic substance is supplied to someone and administered by that person to himself, the supplier cannot be held criminally responsible for the death. Andy Easteal, representing Wilson at London's Court of Appeal, told Lord Justice Toulson, Mr Justice Andrew Smith and Judge John Rogers QC that fundamental change in the law should apply to Wilson's case. The appeal judges agreed, overturning the manslaughter conviction. Wilson, now of Hazel Crescent, Kidlington, Oxfordshire, was jailed for four-and-a-half years after his convictions, later reduced by a year on appeal. He has already served that sentence and appeared in court last week in the public gallery. His conviction for supplying methadone still stands. My Opinion: First of all the alcohol and Ecstasy certainly contributed to this young mans death. Yet, as so often happens Methadone is singled out and the person who sold or gave it to the deceased is charged with murder. At least in the UK they are using some good old common sense. If only the U.S. would take such measures. The U.S. is sentencing people under very questionable circumstances to years and even life on Murder charges if there is so much as a mention of Methadone involved in a death. They often hide behind the "Len Bias Law" which was never intended to be used for that purpose. Drug trafficking is a crime and should be punished but it is NOT murder!