Police in Newry and Mourne have issued a warning about the use of drugs and legal highs after they were forced to task a helicopter to locate a confused and belligerent teenager who fled from his home, having been taken there by officers concerned that he was under the influence of drugs.
The drama unfolded on Sunday night (28th August) when officers came across the teenager who, they said, “was obviously under the influence of something”.
Posting on the PSNI Newry and Mourne Facebook page the following morning, one of the officers involved explained: “He wouldn’t tell us where he was from but we managed to identify him and took him home. When we got there he bolted from us and family.”
Police were so concerned about the boy’s behaviour that they immediately initiated a missing person search and tasked a helicopter to assist. With the help of family and friends, the teen was located and taken to Daisy Hill’s A&E department.
“We had to take him to A&E and for his own safety he was restrained with cuffs and leg restraints,” the police spokesperson revealed.
“This young lad had clearly made a bad decision to take something. He was making no sense, abusive and threatening and constantly struggled. He was so unpredictable he had to be triaged in the car park for his own safety. Our first priority was the young lad’s safety and ensuring he got treatment, and the staff treating him were safe. After being spat at, threatened and called every name under the sun he finally calmed down, most likely due to exhaustion.”
Pointing out that the teenager’s mother was extremely upset and disturbed at her son’s behaviour, the officer added: “Please educate your kids about taking drugs or so called legal highs. Please tell us who is providing this stuff to our young people, and not so young people. This stuff is ruining lives, families and communities.”