THE sister of convicted murderer Kenneth Hartley today told of how the menace of drugs had ripped her family apart.

Hartley, 26, was jailed last week for the murder of Paul Rothwell in what was described in court as a drugs-related shooting.

Tammy Parkington, a 33-year-old mother of three, revealed how she was a close friend of Paul, 24, and described how months before the murder she did her best to wean him off heroin.

Tammy was raised in the notorious Johnston Street area of Blackburn and like many of her friends and family has been forced to move because of the spread of drugs.

She said: "Ten years ago no one ever came across heroin and then all of a sudden it appeared on the streets.

"There is a whole generation of people in their early 20s who have had their lives wrecked by heroin.

"There are hundreds of people on heroin in this town and some areas are no longer safe to live in.

"I've got three young children and I am terrified they will get sucked into what is going on in places like Johnston Street. "I did my best for Paul and even had him in my house so I have seen the effects of drugs close up."

Tammy added: "Paul was desperate to come off drugs and I knew he was taking heroin when he was staying at my house.

"Paul and Kenny were friends all their lives but when Paul became a heroin addict it completely changed his personality. He desperately wanted to come off the drug for his girlfriend and their daughter's sake but every time he went back to being an addict."

Tammy listened to all the evidence through the seven day trial of her brother and was stunned when he was convicted and jailed for life.

She refuses to accept he was involved the Blackburn's hard drugs scene and plans to fight to clear his name.

Speaking for the family she said: "There is no doubt that drugs has ripped this family apart but I am convinced Kenny is innocent.

"He liked a drink but was never involved in drugs and he was not the sort of person who could kill someone. One day the real truth will come out." Tammy went on: "I have seen the effects of drugs and when people take heroin they don't know where they are or what they are doing.

"Paul was on the minimum dose of heroin when he was in my house and even then he didn't really know what was going on around him. They just sit there and nothing sinks in.

"Kenny was convicted on the evidence of three women who admitted they were drug addicts and prostitutes.

"All three had taken heroin on the night Paul was killed.

"Because of heroin and this murder we have lost a close family friend and Kenny has been sent to prison for life."

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