Below are the 3 most recent journal entries recorded in smithscowboy's LiveJournal:

Thursday, November 16th, 2006
3:03 pm	A DRUG ADDICT who killed a vulnerable teenager with a cocktail of alcohol and methadone was jailed for three years and eight months yesterday. Peter Meaney, 27, met Danielle Scott in a chance encounter in February 2005 when the youth was on an evening out from council-run care centre. After befriending her, Meaney took the 17-year-old to his flat before giving her alcohol and a 20ml dose of methadone, a lethal amount for a non-user. Meaney had earlier pleaded guilty to culpable homicide. The victim's family yesterday called for a public inquiry examining Edinburgh City Council's care of vulnerable teenagers. Opposition politicians last night vowed to demand answers from officials in the capital's children and families department. Speaking outside of court, Danielle's mother said her daughter should have been hospitalised for depression and an eating disorder rather than sent to the Howdenhall Young Person's Unit. Lorraine Scott, 46, of Glasgow, said: "All the evidence is there that Danielle was failed by the system. "Danielle had a history of mental health issues and we feel she should have been in hospital and not where she was. And she should not have been allowed out like that. "Danielle had committed no offence and she did not take drugs, she was very vulnerable. "There was a second medical opinion which said she should have been in hospital so now from here as a family we will be looking for a public inquiry into her care. "We are determined to get justice for Danielle." Danielle had a history of absconding from the secure home and drinking but there was no signs that she took opiate drugs. Iain Whyte, the council's Tory group leader, said he would be seeking answers in connection with the case. He said: "This raises a number of questions that I will be putting to the council's chief executive. It may be that things have changed since this happened but this needs to be followed up. We must ensure that with vulnerable young people the risk is assessed and that people are in the proper care and under the appropriate level of supervision". Tom Ponton, the Liberal Democrat councillor who is chairman of the city's children and young people scrutiny panel, added: "It is absolutely right that we should look into the circumstances around this case. But it is also true that when young people are in care, there has to be an element of freedom. You can't lock them up. Children are very well looked after when they are in care, but a 17-year-old has to be given a certain amount of freedom and normality". The High Court in Edinburgh heard that the alarm was raised when Danielle failed to return from her authorised "time out" from the care centre. She had met Meaney on a footpath at Edinburgh's Captain's Road and after chatting agreed to go back to his Sighthill flat. Meaney told police that he and Danielle had flirted, kissed and cuddled. They took a bus and then taxi stopping on the way to buy Buckfast and Southern Comfort. Meaney said that at the flat Danielle drank cider and asked if she could have some of his methadone. Robert Cornwall, a friend of Meaney's, arrived and Danielle appeared to be happy but just after 10pm she had slumped into a semi-conscious state, moaning and breathing heavily. Mr Cornwall dialled 999 for an ambulance but Meaney stopped him. He later said he had done this because Danielle had said she was OK. He put the teenager to bed and lay beside her until 6am. when he himself fell asleep. When he woke four hours later, her heart had stopped and this time an ambulance was called. But paramedics found Danielle beyond help. Sentencing Meaney, judge Lord Macphail said: "No sentence any court could pronounce could ever reconcile the family to their loss, or cure their anguish, and the sentence pronounced today does not imply any assessment of the depth of their suffering, which cannot be measured." "It was clearly blameworthy for a man of your age and experience to supply a young woman of 17 with both alcohol and methadone. "That was obviously likely to harm her, and it was a grossly irresponsible and reckless act." A spokeswoman for Edinburgh City Council said: "Staff in the children and families department are very sorry about Danielle's death and extend their condolences to the family." (Source: http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=1621712006) Last year a friend of mine got in touch. We used to send letters after we got out of the unit, and this was the first one I'd had in almost a year. It was to tell me our other mate had died after running away from a care home in Edinburgh -- Dani. The death was treated as suspicious, but nothing had come of it. It's sickening to find out she was actually left to die by this junkie prick. I mean, the initial shock died away last year but it's just a disturbing reality that out of the three of us, it could've been anyone of us there. The person I really feel for the most is her mother who was always there with her brother even when we were all in the unit together. She must be devastated. As for the action against her care, I'd have a few things to say on it, especially since the prisons are so full that this idiot will be out on probation in a years time. I don't know how exactly or what to think, or what else to say, but it felt like something I needed to put here. I've been avoiding it all week. Didn't say anything because I didn't want to hear it. It's put Christmas in a different light. Current Mood: listless (Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 14th, 2006
11:49 pm	I have 20 minutes to write up this entry, but I honestly don't know if that's enough. I don't usually go for the feeling sorry for my life shite, but right now I'm drowning in it and I didn't even notice. So this year is sobriety, the straightening out of my priorities and the suppression of any fun whatsoever? Last year, I drank quite a lot of bourbon and I was going nowhere fast, but at least I had fun doing it. This year, I've finally started T, which I've been waiting on since I was 15 or earlier. I've started back in education too, which was another one of my ambitions. So, I'm all productive and doing things, but it isn't as liberating and refreshing as I thought it'd be. I'm not taking to the academic lifestyle so far, and yet I'm applying for university next year. I guess I just don't know what else to do. I just didn't want to get to next year and have nothing in front of me. Funny thing is, I feel more lost than I was before, and even less focused. I'm not sure how to wrap this one up. It might just be the T talking. I'm getting down about that side of things too. Things aren't turning out how I wanted in general. Current Mood: blah (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, November 5th, 2006
11:06 pm	'We are Motorhead and we play rock and roll' November 3rd, I seen Motorhead at the Carling Academy, Glasgow. I wasn't crazy about them or even Lemmy before I went, but I've been they've re-awakened my inner metal fan. We didn't pay for the tickets. My Dad and his friend Joe were supposed to be going after getting offered the tickets from a friend that works in the venue. He loves the band, even smoked pot with Lemmy 'back in 1972' so he keeps saying. He didn't want to go because he knew he'd want to have a drink there, and with him trying out his controlled drinking routine, it wouldn't bode well for a successful future. So, he called us and I accepted the tickets. Kaz comes along with me, we stand in the box office queue with the hairy heavy metal twats and it's just after six. No sign of the boxes opening up yet, so we run down the road to some place to grab food. It's this Indian/American place, nothing like I've ever seen before, with a carbon copy of the KFC menu running above the counter. I swear, they even had the family bucket but it has soggy, sad looking chips that only your local Indian takeaway could concoct. We had the displeasure of the sad chips, went back down the road and not until seven did the boxes finally open. Stupid attendant couldn't find my name on the guest list, despite it being right in front of her. I haven't been at a gig on the guest list. It isn't because we thought we were royalty, but my Dad has a ring of contacts and one of them happened to have some guest spaces. We scuttled in, stuffed Kaz's cam down my boxers and she hid mine (only because it's chunkier...) down her bra. The security didn't notice. What if I had a knife? The gig itself was good, but standing for 3 hours going through the support bands begun to hurt. There was Clutch, three girls who were surprisingly good. The second support was some Serj Tankien clone who just looked like a Dad on karaoke after too many Carlings. Course, the crowd went insane for him but not for the girls. Sexist as ever. Motorhead finally came out. Course, I had no idea what they were playing since I haven't heard England but it didn't make me uncomfortable at the gig. They just rocked, literally. Phil did a drum solo half way that blew me away. You've got to wonder what kept these guys together for twenty years. I suppose it's evident when you see them play, but yeah. I just realised I lost all the videos I had from the gig too. Current Mood: impressed (1 Comment |Comment on this)