A DRUG dealer who injected his friend with a fatal shot of heroin two days after Christmas has been jailed for three years.
Daniel Spinks, 32, of Porters Field, Braintree, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Marc Clapson, who died last year.
Mr Clapson, a father-of-one, died on December 27 at a flat in Davies Court, Rose Hill, after overdosing on the Class A drug.
Sentencing Spinks, who had been sleeping rough at the time of his friend's death, Judge Charles Gratwicke said no amount of remorse could bring back Mr Clapson.
The judge said: "As a result of that fatal injection, a life has been lost – parents mourn the death of a son and a 14-year-old girl mourns the death of a father.
"Dreams have been dashed and those close to him are left with an unfillable void."
The court heard that Mr Clapson had slipped into alcoholism in 2008 after the breakdown of his relationship with the mother of his child.
He had overdosed on heroin before but had stopped using and sought help for his problems with alcohol, attending the Salvation Army-run New Direction shelter in Bocking Road, Braintree.
"The picture that becomes clear is that by November 2011 he was not using any drugs of abuse," said prosecutor Andrew Jackson.
"He was not a heroin user but was an alcoholic, two things that were known to the defendant."
Mr Clapson spent Christmas with his parents, Sandra and Barry Clapson, in Braintree and on December 27 he left their home at 10.30am to buy some beer.
He was due back for lunch but did not return.
The court heard that by 6pm he was at the Davies Court flat with Spinks and two other men, and all had been drinking heavily.
At 6.23pm an ambulance was called to the property and paramedics found Mr Clapson on the floor not breathing, surrounded by needles and syringes.
Attempts to save his life were futile and at 7.27pm he was pronounced dead.
Spinks was questioned by police and told one officer before being arrested: "I might as well tell you, Marc asked for help and I injected him, I think in his right arm, the crook of his right arm."
A postmortem examination on December 28 revealed that Mr Clapson died of alcohol-heroin co-toxicity.
"It's the prosecution's case that Mr Clapson was not a regular user of heroin and the defendant had obtained the drug for him and knew, not only that Mr Clapson was dependent on alcohol, he had been drinking heavily.
"He had then gone on to administer that heroin by injection, as he later admitted to police and other people."
Mitigating Ian Dowty said: "The defendant regarded Mr Clapson as a friend and what happened is the very last thing he wanted to happen. If he could put back the clock he would do so."
His client feels "genuine remorse", he added
The court heard that Spinks had a string of previous convictions, including theft and burglary, and had been sentenced to three years in prison in 2008 for supplying cocaine and heroin.
He had also been handed an 18-month suspended prison sentence for possessing an offensive weapon.
As well as the three-year sentence for manslaughter, Judge Gratwicke told Spinks he had to spend a further six months in prison for breaching the suspended sentence.
