A heroin user given a life-saving jab after overdosing complained to the paramedics who administered it that they spoiled his “high”, a court has heard.
Dion Robert Stanford then walked away from the medics and tried to burgle a house before collapsing in the street.
Hannah George, prosecuting at Swansea Crown Court , said shortly before 10am on April 28 this year paramedics were called to the car park of the Tesco supermarket in Port Talbot to deal with a man suffering from a heroin overdose.
She said the medics administered an emergency drug to 43-year-old Stanford to counteract the effects of the overdose but “he seemed not to be pleased that he had come around from the high he was experiencing”. The defendant refused to accompany paramedics to hospital for a check-up and instead walked away.
Miss George said around an hour later Stanford was seen trying the handles of a number of front doors in nearby St Mary Street. One of the householders followed Stanford down the road while calling police on his mobile phone and alerting them to what was happening.
Officers were soon on the scene and Stanford was seen to collapse behind a car in Hopkin Street. The court heard he later told police he had only been trying to get home. Officers found a pair of gloves in his pocket. The following day he was interviewed and he said he could not remember the events of the previous evening.
Stanford, of Hopkin Street, Port Talbot , admitted one count of attempted burglary. The court heard he has 26 previous convictions for 49 offences including five for burglaries.
Robin Rouch, for Stanford, said his client had been in a “highly intoxicated state” on the night in question. He said the defendant was now clean of drugs and had enrolled on courses while back behind bars.
Judge Paul Thomas QC told Stanford it was an illustration of his state in the Tesco car park that after being given the medication by paramedics “instead of being grateful, you complained it had reduced the high you were experiencing”.
He said it was perhaps the defendant’s good fortune that he had failed to gain entry to any of the houses in St Mary Street otherwise he would be facing a minimum three-year sentence as a repeat offender.
Giving the defendant credit for his guilty plea the judge sentenced Stanford to 20 months in jail. He will serve half that period in custody before being released on licence.
Sending him down Judge Thomas told him: “I have been told by Mr Rouch that you are taking steps in custody to get your life on some sort of track – I hope for your sake, and society’s sake, that you are successful in that.”
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