‘HEROIN TURNED MY LOVELY LITTLE BOY INTO A CRIMINAL’
WHEN THE DRUG FINALLY KILLED CARL LETMAN HE WAS STRIPPED AND ROBBED BY OTHER ADDICTS SAYS HEARTBROKEN MUM
GROWING up, Carl Letman was like any other boy. He was vociferous, loved bikes and, being the oldest brother of eight, he was protective of his siblings.
He had a happy childhood and, after finishing school at 16, worked as a labourer. He found a partner and had two sons.
Then in his late 20s Carl was introduced to heroin. He was quickly trapped in a vicious circle of crime, punishment, rehabilitation and relapse.
Carl would go to prison and stop using drugs, come out of jail and get a job, but then relapse and commit crime to fund his habit before going back to jail again.
“If you looked at Carl, even the week before he passed, you would not have thought he was a junkie,” said mum Elizabeth. “He loved the kids and he always dressed well. He looked after his appearance. Even though he was a heroin addict, his teeth were always white – he was constantly cleaning them.
“People were surprised that he took heroin. He was a lovable rogue – he was flirty, confident. I could not understand why he smoked drugs, he didn’t need to. “He had a beautiful childhood and I worked hard to make sure they all had the nicest things. Still to this day, I do not understand why he did it.”
Carl died on July 3, 2019, a week after his 44th birthday, of a suspected heroin overdose in a property in Longcrosss Street in the Adamsdown area of Cardiff.
The circumstances around his death are still unclear and an inquest is due to take place at the end of the year. South Wales Police arrested a 37-yearold woman on suspicion of administering a noxious substance with intent to endanger life/inflict grievous bodily harm at the time. She was released under investigation while inquiries are ongoing. On the day of his death, Miss Letman says Carl’s brother Luke was at work when he had a horrible feeling.
“He felt tired and dizzy and went outside for fresh air,” the mum-of-eight said. “Carl kept going through his mind but when he rang him one of his friends answered. He said, ‘I cannot wake him up.’”
He was a lovable rogue – he was flirty, confident. I could not understand why he smoked drugs Elizabeth Letman
Luke rang straight away to tell her, Miss Letman added, and they informed the police before going to the house in Adamsdown. When they got there, there were police everywhere.
“In our hearts, we knew,” she said. “I was devastated, I collapsed on the floor. Even to this day, he is my son.”
Particularly harrowing is the fact that when he was found Carl had, according to his mum, been robbed of his possessions. His bike, expensive headphones and trainers had disappeared.
“They robbed him – they are walking around with his trainers.”
His mum claims the property where Carl was found was a drug den, frequented, in her words, by other users.
She says that when they went to lay flowers at the house, there were needles outside the property.
“I would like to see all these places closed down – if it has happened once, it is going to happen again,” she added.
“I would like to see all the crack houses gone in his memory so that other people’s children do not die.
“I am still sad and angry. I have lost one of my children, it is not something you ever get over. Being a mother for 44 years, you do not expect having to go to see your son at the cemetery every week. I feel for any mum that is going through what I have gone through.”
Miss Letman, from Pentwyn, said Carl was her only son who used drugs.
In his early 20s, Carl had two sons of his own, Kieran and Kirtis, and was in a happy relationship. But when he mixed with the wrong crowd, started to smoke heroin and kept getting into trouble, the relationship ended.
Miss Letman said she only found out about her son’s drug use from his expartner as he kept it from his family.
“I would not have him back with me because I had his younger siblings,” the 64-year-old continued. “He was back and forth from prison, staying in hostels. It was heartbreaking.
“But even during that time [when he was using drugs], family were his life. He always loved us and his boys were his pride and joy – he adored them.”
During his 30s drugs took over his life, Miss Letman said, but he was always in and out of work, doing labouring jobs.
The family describe how, even though nobody said anything to their faces, there was gossip about Carl and people were talking about them.
“It was frustrating,” the retired care worker added. “People judged me, which is sad – my son needed help instead of judgement . . . He was fighting his demons.”
When Carl was in prison, Miss Letman, a grandmother of 14, would regularly go to see him and he would say he was sorry, that it would not happen again.
He went to prison several times for offences like burglary and theft, which he committed to pay for his drugs.
“He could not cope with the outside,” added Miss Letman. “Carl was so institutionalised – he seemed more comfortable in prison. The system failed him. There is not enough help out there for drug-users or people who have rehabilitated.”
Nicknamed “Casanova”, Carl was always popular with women, said Miss Letman, and enjoyed being around people – for him, taking drugs was something sociable.
Speaking about the weeks prior to his death, Miss Letman said they do not know what caused him to relapse after having not taken heroin for a year, but that he felt disappointed with himself.
He had been trying hard to stop using heroin and was staying at the Salvation Army in Bute Street.