Man went berserk and drowned his friend after smoking legal high Spice on a fishing trip
Call to ban possession of drug after Christopher Davies battered screaming pal Barry O'Reilly
A MAN went berserk and drowned his friend after smoking legal high Spice on a fishing trip.
Christopher Davies, "battered" his screaming victim Barry O’Reilly, before holding his head under the water until he was dead.
The pair had gone for a day out fishing, Liverpool Crown Court heard, but after Davies smoked cannabis laced with Spice he went “off his head” and attacked his pal.
Davies, of Higher Bebington, Merseyside, was jailed for seven years after admitting manslaughter at a fishing lake in Clatterbridge, on the Wirral, on May 15 this year.
A ban on the supply and production, but not the possession, of Spice and other so called 'psycho-active' substances, once sold openly on the high street came into force just 11 days later.
But Judge Clement Goldstone QC, Recorder of Liverpool, said the possession of the drug should also now be banned, as he passed sentence on Davies today.
He said: "This is a case which emphasises the truly dreadful effects which can be expected from the use of 'legal highs' as they are called, in this case.
RELATED STORIES
"I have no reason to believe that if you had not taken Spice on this occasion, this crime would have been committed.
"I can only on hope that the circumstances of this tragic case will prompt the Government to reconsider its attitude toward the possession of such compounds.
The court heard "within seconds" of killing his victim Davies 'came to' and with other fishermen tried to resuscitate Mr O'Reilly before the emergency services arrived.
Davies also told the court he did not initially know his friend had put Spice, which he had never taken before, into the cannabis pipe they were using to smoke drugs.
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Denn, of Merseyside Police, added: "During the investigation medical experts working with officers who explained the effects of Spice and they said that the effects can be extreme causing hallucinations, psychosis, muscle weakness and paranoia, as well as many other symptoms.
"Our advice to people has always been not to take any substances if they don't know exactly what's in it or where it came from.”
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368