Drug user caught injecting in Hartlepool cemetery in broad daylight

West View resident James Bullock at the place in West View cemetery where he came across a drug user. Picture by FRANK REID

James Bullock was shocked to see a man who had just injected himself inside West View Cemetery during the middle of the afternoon.

Children and people paying respects to their loved ones were in the cemetery at the same time.

One of the needles left behind in the cemetery

James, 28, was so concerned that he went back and cleared up discarded needles that had been left lying around.

It comes just after three-year-old Logan Pearce stepped on a used needle thrown into the family’s garden in Windermere Road.

James, who works as a tower crane operator, regularly goes in the cemetery with his dog and young children aged four and one, or to tend to relatives’ graves.

He wants to warn visitors to the cemetery to be on their guard to what he saw.

James said: “There was a guy sat on the floor propped up behind the chapel. I saw what he was doing.

“At first I carried on walking. As I came back down he got on his bike just missing me and my dog and he just missed someone else.

“He was rolling across the graves on his bike.

“I went back to where he had been and there was a couple of needles and a spoon.

“He had obviously cut himself as there were leaves covered in blood and bits of broken glass.”

James took his dog home and went back wearing protective gloves. He put the needles in a bottle and put it in the rubbish.

He added: “I think it’s absolutely disgraceful. It was in broad daylight, three o’clock in the afternoon.

“There were kids in while it was going on and people paying respects.

“People have no respect especially for people that have passed.”

A spokesman for Hartlepool Borough Council, which is responsible for the cemetery, said: “We take the issue of drug-related litter very seriously and whenever we become aware of a problem we deal with it as a matter of urgency.

“I can confirm that we did receive a report about the presence of needles in West View Cemetery and on-site staff were immediately alerted.

“We would urge anyone discovering drug-related litter to report the matter to us by calling (01429) 523333 during normal working hours or (01429) 266522 at other times.”