EX-SCOTLAND YOUTH PLAYER FOUND DEAD
Former Hearts hitkid turned to drugs after Army service
A FORMER football starlet who played for Scotland at youth level has been found dead from a suspected drug overdose at the age of 33.
Andy Shaw, who played for Hearts, was found at a flat in Perth.
He had recently been released early from Perth Prison after completing half of a two-year sentence.
Shaw had quit football after failing to make the grade at senior level and joined the Army, seeing frontline action in Afghanistan.
After leaving the Armed Forces, he returned to Perth and began to use drugs, turning to crime to fund his habit. In one court appearance, he said believed he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his military service.
A former friend said: “Andy had been a really talented footballer when he was at school and hoped to make a career of it. Unfortunately that never happened for him and he started going off the rails.
“He joined the Army and served abroad. However, he started getting into drugs and his habit spiralled out of control when he came back to Perth.
“He became a bit of rogue but when he wasn’t on drugs, he was fine – just a normal guy.
“His life started falling apart when his dream of being a footballer vanished.”
In August last year, Shaw was jailed for two years after committing 18 offences during a three- year, drug- fuel led crime wave.
He had been granted bail 10 times but Perth sheriff William
Wood ran out of patience and gave him a spell behind bars.
Solicitor David Holmes told a court last year: “Drugs have been the root of his problems. He’d been in the Army and had some mental health issues on his discharge but that was some time ago. He has had a multitude of arrests for theft and is often arrested under the influence of drugs.”
The court also heard that Shaw had completed a Scottish Football Association coaching course while being held on remand in prison.