EndnotE
LOLA BEGAN PROSTITUTING
after she left home at 15. We met two
years later in the plasticky smoke of a
crack house on Commercial Road. She
helped me distract the dealer, nothing
but eye contact between us to convey
the message of what was about to go
down. It went well – I got three white
when I’d paid for one. A friendship,
and heartbreak, was sealed there.
Lola was known everywhere, from
strip clubs and parlours in Soho to
flats in deepest south London, and
that’s what caused all the trouble. Our
addiction formed together – she took
me into the underworld. I loved it.
We partied with gangsters and
rock stars, Lola always sorting me out
with hotel rooms. So when she asked
me to drive her around the flats, come up and get the cash,
check she was OK, score and meet her back at a set time, I
was more than happy to do it. But Lola was playing a
dangerous game, so much more dangerous than I knew.
Turns out she started to dip the clients, ripping off the
wrong people, borrowed too much cash. She got a call – all
was cool, she said, so I left and when I came back she was
on the pavement bleeding really badly, unconscious.
I jumped out the motor, leaving it still running, and tried
to pull her up – and that was when I saw her face. It was
smashed to pieces. Someone called an ambulance and I put
her in the recovery position. Fractured skull, broken jaw,
broken arm, broken ribs – she was put into a coma in the
hospital because her body wouldn’t cope with the pain. I
received a phone call telling me that this was merely a
warning – she was to fuck off out of London, if she survived…
Terrianne Croasdale is currently incarcerated at HMP
Holloway. You can read more of her writing by visiting her
blog, ajunkieslife.blog.com
First person
Terrianne Croasdale
writes about her friend Lola,
and their journey into the dark side of city life
‘We
partied
with
gangsters
and rock
stars,
Lola
always
sorting
me out...’
18 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| May 2015
A DECADE OF DDN
In May 2005 DDN reported on the first controversial sniffer
dog pilot schemes taking place to test for drugs in schools…
Before a posse of journalists and cameramen
, a panel of head
teachers, police, and the Local Education Authority presented a united front
on the ‘overwhelming success’ of a Buckingham pilot scheme that
introduced sniffer dogs in schools. A jaunty spaniel cheerfully sniffed out
some cannabis hidden behind a pipe, and a black labrador identified the
drug carrier planted in a demonstration line-up, sitting down in front of her
to indicate that she was in possession of drugs. A line of smiling
schoolchildren was presented to the press conference as happy to be
interviewed about how the scheme was working in their schools…
…The pilot states that ‘92 per cent of staff thought it was a good idea to
have drugs dogs in schools’, and reports that ‘82 per cent of pupils stated it
was an excellent idea as a method of prevention and detection.’ Some of the
pupils interviewed for the report were less convinced, with comments such
as: ‘my civil rights are being eroded’, ‘[I’m] disappointed at the school that
they obviously do not trust pupils’ and ‘I felt some of the processes were
immoral and unethical’….
…For schools that were going down the drug detection and testing route,
there was agreement that clear protocols were essential, setting out what
should and shouldn’t happen. While the Buckinghamshire pilot appeared to
have been carried out with the utmost care and determination not to make
anyone feel accused, there was real concern that everyday reality outside a
pilot scheme could be very, very different.
DDN back issues are available
o search and read online at
ww.drinkanddrugsnews.com
‘A line of smiling
schoolchildren was
presented to the press
conference as happy
to be interviewed
about how the scheme
was working.’
