DAUGHTER DIES OF OVERDOSE AS HEROIN SWEEPS VILLAGES BY

THREE days after the Government warned of heroin use in the shires, a former
legal secretary from an affluent family has died of an overdose in a village
near Haywards Heath, Sussex.

Claire Campbell, 21, died yesterday in intensive care after injecting
herself with the drug at the flat she shared with her boyfriend in Franklyns
Village three days ago. The coroner investigating her death said he could
not recall a previous heroin-related fatality in Haywards Heath.

Her father, Harry, a retired executive with an American health care company,
said he and his wife, Astrid, had no idea that their "beautiful, bubbly"
daughter was addicted to heroin.

He said: "She was an outgoing girl but she was also easily influenced and
fell in with the wrong company. A couple of weeks ago her twin sister,
Ingrid, said she was very worried about her. They had been very close since
they were little girls but Ingrid saw the people Claire was with and decided
she wanted nothing to do with them.

"She stopped going to see her sister and told us she thought Claire's
friends were drug addicts and said she did want to see her while she was
with these people. After Ingrid told us of her fears for her sister we
tackled Claire but she denied everything and told us not to worry, she
wasn't taking anything. "

Mr Campbell said that Claire lost her job with a software firm due to
missing days at work . He said: "She told us they were downsizing and she
had to leave. She then went to work as a secretary in a firm of solicitors
but again she got fired for absenteeism. We now know that it was probably
all to do with the effects of the drug-taking but we had no idea what the
problem was at the time. She disguised it so well.

"She said she was coming at the weekend but instead we got a phone call from
the woman who lived in the flat below her telling us there was an ambulance
at the house and Dinky was being taken to hospital.

"We were just about to have dinner, but we dropped everything and raced to
her bedside. She was on a ventilator and we stayed with her until doctors
said they could not save her and she died.

"Nothing will bring her back to us and all we can hope now is that other
families learn from this tragedy and do not have to suffer the anguish we
have gone through. I urge all parents to look for the tell-tale signs -
sudden and inexplicable mood changes, unnatural behaviour, dilated pupils,
slurred speech - and get help before it becomes too late."

Det Sgt Steve Tuffin said: "It is a tragic loss of life and her family are
devastated by their loss. It seems she had injected heroin and collapsed
while at home with her boyfriend. She was placed on a ventilator but did not
regain consciousness."

Barry Markham, the coroner investigating her death, said: "Mr Campbell and
his wife cannot believe what has happened to one of their daughters. I
cannot recall a previous heroin-related death in Haywards Heath. In the
light of the recent Government report, Claire's family want her death to be
a warning to others. They are are all very shocked."

The coroner said that drug-taking equipment had been found at her flat but
the police confirmed that her boyfriend is not a suspect. A spokesman said:
"We have interviewed him and he has been very helpful." The police are now
searching for the person who supplied Miss Campbell with the drug.

Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst"