MUM AND DAD'S DIVORCE TURNED MY BROTHER INTO A JUNKIE

Ramsay Tells Of Heartache Over Family Heroin Shame

TOP chef Gordon Ramsay yesterday blamed his parents' divorce for
driving his brother to heroin.

The former Rangers player said his younger brother, Ronnie, 32, threw
his life away after the marriage split 14 years ago.

Gordon said: "It has been a downward slide for Ronald since
then.

"It has been heartache for me and for mother but there is nothing more
anyone can do for him."

Ronnie could be facing jail after appearing in court after stealing to
feed his habit.

Gordon, 33, told yesterday how Ronnie worshipped their parents, Helen
and Gordon. The family lived in Greenock but moved to
Stratford-upon-Avon when Gordon was three.

After the divorce, which followed 25 years of marriage, their mother
moved to Bridgwater in Somerset and his musician father toured abroad.

Gordon said: "It wasn't very pleasant when they separated and it was
hard for Ronnie because he was dad's blue-eyed boy. He was his favourite.

"Ronnie was on the rebound because dad went off travelling around the
world and there was he, having been the blue-eyed boy, all of a sudden
dropped.

"He felt neglected and took it personally and at the time he wasn't
progressing in his career."

Ronnie had joined the Paras at 18 but was thrown out for getting drunk
and stealing from the NAAFI.

Gordon said it was then he started mixing with the wrong
crowd.

He got a job in the kitchen of a top London restaurant and Gordon
believes his brother could also have followed a career in cooking.

But he started smoking joints and then, six years ago, went out to
live in Amsterdam where heroin quickly became the focus of his life.

He took a job as a long-distance lorry driver to feed his
habit.

Gordon, who has won international acclaim for his eponymous two
Michelin star restaurant in Chelsea, has not seen Ronnie since
September after finding him in a heroin-induced coma in his London
flat.

They were due to go to motor racing at Silverstone the next day and
Gordon wanted to check on him.

Gordon said: "He'd been to Kings Cross and used heroin. I was
devastated. I wanted to scream at him but I knew it wouldn't do any
good."

Gordon has fought a tireless battle to wean Ronnie off drugs, booking
him into the exclusive pounds 1000-a-week Priory rehabilitation clinic.

He tracked his brother down to seedy drug dens when in Bristol and
Bridgwater and sat with him through counselling sessions.

Gordon said: "Being in amongst the dealers made me cringe because they
are in these disgusting holes and they are just not places that you
want to be seen in.

"In order to get through to Ronnie I had to try drag him out of there
to try and shake him out of heroin.

"Going in to rehab the last time was an absolute nightmare."

But Gordon now feels his brother's habit will kill
him.

He said: "I am more concerned now about what is going to happen in the
next three or four years because he won't be able to sustain that kind
of lifestyle. He just can't last like that forever. The dependency on
heroin is awful.

"It is a disgusting drug, it's something that I never want to get
close to again.

"I can't. There are two ways with this. It's called tough love. You
set it aside and ignore it or you continue surrounding yourself by it
and getting involved.

"Unless you have been involved with someone in the family being on
heroin you will never understand how awful it is.

"I just want to protect my family now and I have to blank it and be
strong. I just want to be there for my mum."

Gordon, who has three children of his own, lost his father last year
which added to his mother's trauma.

Gordon added: "Mum has gone to hell and back and she is coping
remarkably well. For a mother it is a heartache to watch your son
destroy his life.

"We are all there for him again to pick up the pieces if he decides to
stop but at the moment there is nothing else we can do."

Ronnie appeared before magistrates in Bridgwater yesterday and
admitted stealing 11 packets of Duracell batteries from Sainsbury's to
feed his drug habit.

The case was adjourned but chairman of the bench, Edward Kelsall said:
"We cannot rule out custody but we require further information before
we sentence you.''