A woman is setting up a support group for relatives of drug victims after her brother died of a heroin overdose.

Charlotte Spencer found her 37-year-old brother Paul Bawden dead in her own bathroom after he took a massive overdose of heroin.

Miss Spencer said together with her parents she suffered the effects of her brother's addiction, and now she plans to set up a group to help families in similar situations.

She said: "It is really terrible - even though none of the rest of the family have had addictions, we feel we have had to go through it all with him. When I took him to hospital once they treated me as if I was a junkie just because I was with him.

"People are so out of order with their attitudes, so it effects the relatives just as much."

Miss Spencer, 27, from Gordon Road, Leigh, and her parents Jan and Pete Bawden all looked after Paul and tried to help him beat his addiction after he went to them for help in June.

At the time Paul had been an addict for nearly two years - he had a daughter and had previously been married, although Miss Spencer stressed his addiction had nothing to do with the split.

He initially experimented with cannabis and Ecstasy, before moving onto injecting body building drug Nubaine.

Paul, who was a qualified chef, then moved onto crack before becoming hooked on heroin.

Miss Spencer continued: "Drugs are bad, but it doesn't necessarily mean people taking them are bad.

"We thought we had got him off it, and we didn't get any help - we went to the Roche clinic and there was a three month waiting list, so we had to get him through the withdrawal programme ourselves.

"He got a job as a chef and we thought he was OK, but presumably he was using the money to buy more heroin.

"Then we found him dead - he had got back into it again. With a big brother who is 37 you just don't expect it - my mum and dad were devastated."

Miss Spencer and her parents raised £250 from donations at Paul's funeral which they plan to put towards the setting up of a support group to help people who have lost a child through drugs.

Any donations towards Paul Bawden's support group fund, which may help others, should be made to Tanners Funeral Directors in East Street, Prittlewell.

Happier times - Charlotte and her big brother Paul. She knew he was hooked on drugs but had hoped he had beaten the problem. Sadly, he died of an overdose

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