A drug addict who gave her friend some heroin to "help her" and was left devastated when she died has been jailed. Dawn Mallenby and Kelly Hymers were good friends and both had been beset with addiction issues, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
Miss Hymers, 44, was found by her partner to have stopped breathing during the early hours of July 8 2023. She died as a result of the effects of taking a number of drugs, including heroin, cocaine and methadone.
Police investigation
As part of a police investigation, officers spoke to her friend, Mallenby. She said she had seen her the day before and admitted giving her some heroin because she had missed her methadone prescription.
She later said she had given her heroin and cocaine and that Miss Hymers had reciprocated the previous day. She said they were good friends and Miss Hymers had told her she was suffering from withdrawal so she gave her some heroin to "help her".
Mallenby said they both injected the drug and neither of them experienced any ill-effects at the time. Mallenby, 48, who has 20 previous convictions, pleaded guilty to supply heroin but was not accused of having caused her friend's death.
Defence statement
Dan Wilberforce, defending, said: "This is a particularly tragic case. Miss Mallenby has been addicted to class A substances for most of her life."
He added: "The offence was £10 of heroin to her friend who had given her some drugs the previous day. No money changed hands. It's people within the addicted community helping each other out."
"The individual concerned was a long-standing friend of Miss Mallenby. She is an isolated woman and the death of her friend was immeasurable and she felt deeply responsible for that, having supplied at least some of the substances that contributed to her death."
"She had known her almost all of her life and considered her almost a sister. She was not charged as responsible for the death of her friend."
He said she suffered a traumatic childhood and started taking class A drugs at the age of 12 and was addicted by 18. He added that she has depression and is vulnerable.
Sentencing
The court heard Mallenby, of Chandos Street, Gateshead, was "at a low ebb" and was begging on the streets at the time.
Judge Tom Moran said it might be thought her friend dying would motivate Mallenby to tackle her deep-seated addiction but it has not done so up to now. Mallenby was jailed for 12 months.
