Prisoner died after taking ‘zombie’ Spice drug in cell
Lethal legal high caused thug to suffer heart attack behind bars
A PRISONER died after suffering a reaction to the ‘zombie’ drug Spice.
Gary Shearon, 46, had taken the substance in HMP Shotts and was admitted to Wishaw General Hospital after his condition deteriorated.
He was kept in intensive care and tests showed he was suffering from swelling to the brain due to oxygen starvation during a cardiac arrest. Efforts to save him failed and he was pronounced dead on May 16, 2017.
Prison chiefs have warned that Scotland’s jails are awash with the synthetic substance, which can leave users like ‘zombies’, in a semi-comatose state incapable of walking or talking properly.
Spice has also been known to cause breathing problems and even heart attacks. Users can become violent, with some prison staff saying it gives inmates ‘super-human strength’.
The Mail told last year how four officers in Perth Prison were admitted to hospital after being in a fume-filled cell. At a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) at Hamilton Sheriff Court yesterday, Sheriff Daniel Kelly, QC, ruled that nothing could have been done to prevent Shearon’s untimely death.
Sheriff Kelly said medical experts had examined the case and found clear evidence of Spice in their investigations. He added: ‘Traces of a synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist (SCRA), colloquially known as Spice, had been found during forensic analysis.
‘The literature referred to indicated that the adverse effects of SCRA exposure were typically mild but that a small number of fatalities have been related to it.
‘It was noted that cardiac arrest and sudden cardiac deaths were recognised as hazardous effects of recreational use of 5F-ADB, a type of SCRA detected.’
Shearon was serving a five-anda-half year sentence for assault and robbery. He had stolen £51.63 from a hairdressers but was caught when he dropped a council tax reminder bearing his name and address near the scene.
Shearon, of Glasgow, had put on a mask before arming himself with a knife and demanding ‘everything you’ve got’ from terrified workers in the city’s Shettleston district.
Last year, prison chiefs washed clothes sent to inmates amid fears they had been soaked in Spice.
A liquid form of the synthetic cannabis is being sprayed on garments, letters and even children’s drawings to smuggle the substance behind bars. Seven Perth prisoners required emergency aid after smoking Spice.
A Scottish Prison Service spokesman said: ‘We have received the determination and are considering the outcome.
‘The SPS conducts a review of all deaths in custody to ensure that lessons are learned promptly and any actions that require to be taken are taken.’
Glyn Travis, of the Prison Officers’ Association, has said prisons are ‘awash with drugs and Spice is the cannabis of the 21st century’.
Murderer Thomas Shields, 30, died in October 2017 in Castle Huntly, near Dundee, and fellow inmate Kevin Sloan, 31, died in February 2016, both from taking versions of Spice. FAIs into their deaths were heard at Perth Sheriff Court last month.
Shields was found dead only months before completing his 14-year sentence having taken the drug 5F-mdmb-Pinaca.
Sloan died as a result of taking a combination of heroin and AKB48N15 (hydroxypentyl), a similar synthetic cannabinoid.
‘Cannabis of the 21st century’