Couple come home from trip to find monkey dust drug addict had moved in and was living in their house
Karl Hall was bailed after the break in, but less than two weeks later he was caught red-handed climbing through a bathroom window of a second home
A SHOCKED couple returned home from a trip to find a monkey dust addict sitting on their living room couch.
The man claimed he lived at the Burslem property, Stoke-on-Trent, and refused to leave until police arrived and arrested him on August 19.
The couple knew something was wrong when they saw the front door had been forced open, .
When they entered their living room, they found 34-year-old Karl Hall sitting on their sofa.
He claimed someone, who he refused to name, had given him a key.
While Staffordshire, and particularly Stoke, is a known epicentre for addiction to the drug, West Midlands Ambulance Service said it has dealt with cases across the region.
What is Monkey Dust?
- Monkey dust, also known as MDPV, Zombie or Cannibal Dust, causes hallucinations and paranoia.
- The substance comes from a family of drugs known as cathinones.
- It is a Class C synthetic drug.
- It can cost as little as £2.
- Monkey dust can be swallowed, injected or snorted and dampens perceptions of pain.
- Often the added strength the drugs gives addicts means police struggle to restrain them.
- It has been linked to face-eating attacks in the US.
The drug is becoming popular due to its cheapness.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard Hall’s addiction had a "bigger impact on his life than anticipated".
He originally gave cops a false name, but was recognised by a custody officer.
Hall - who has 34 previous convictions for 97 offences – was bailed but less than two weeks later he was caught red-handed climbing through a bathroom window of a house in Hanley.
The terrified householder barricaded herself in her bedroom until police arrived.
Hall pleaded guilty to two offences of burglary.
The offences placed the defendant in breach of a six-month suspended jail sentence he received on August 21 for possession of a knife in public.
Nick Tatlow, who was mitigating the case, said: "He (Hall) is genuinely sorry for what he did.
"He moved into the first property and would have stayed there had the householders not returned.
"His drug of choice changed to monkey dust and it had even more influence on his life than the heroin he was taking previously.
Hall was jailed for two years and nine months by Judge David Fletcher.
Paramedics have been called to 178 incidents since April involving money dust - 131 of them in North Staffordshire.
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