The distraught mother of a heroin addict in a spiral of offending that has seen him attack his own father and attempt suicide is calling on drug and mental health agencies to save her son’s life.

Sue Hansen, 58, from Balham, has witnessed the life of her son Giles, 31, spiral out of control since he began smoking cannabis at the age of 12 and moved on to harder drugs.

Later becoming addicted to heroin, he has accrued a long criminal record mainly for theft, has been in and out of prison for more than a decade, and has suffered four psychotic episodes.

Then two events took place that affected the Hansen family deeply.

Firstly, the day after Giles was released from Wandsworth Prison, on May 30, he tried unsuccessfully to take his own life and just days later he saw his father Peter in Balham and viciously attacked him.

Despite begging drug dependency and mental health agencies for help, the Hansens say they have received no support and Giles’s cycle of drug abuse, theft, arrest and release continues.

Mrs Hansen said: “Each time he has been arrested and released he has been offered no support, no money and nowhere to sleep.

“We have talked to, begged and pleaded with all the major agencies involved with drug abuse and mental health issues. No one has offered any tangible support.

“His life is totally wasted and we wonder how much life he has left, we have half prepared ourselves already for the worst.”

                                   Wandsworth Times:

Faced with a child continually stealing from them, his mother asked Giles to leave the family home and stopped financially supporting him.

He was jailed for six months on the detox wing at Wandsworth Prison in November, but Mrs Hansen was shocked at the “drugged up” state of her son during a visit.

Mrs Hansen said: “It’s bad enough how easily drugs can be obtained on the street but he was clearly off his head each time I saw him. Staff tried to tell me it was a sleeping pill but after 16 years of dealing with a heroin addict, you know the signs. I’ve written to the governor, but haven’t yet got a reply.

“Are we as a nation going to continually turn a blind eye to this outrageous corruption of our prison system?

“Are we going to allow drug addicts to freely roam the streets because we have no housing and health care options?”

In 2009, a report by The National Association of Probation Officers (Napo) said prisoners were making special requests to be sent to Wandsworth Prison because drugs are so freely available there.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "We do not comment on individuals. Staff work hard to keep drugs out of prisons, using a range of intelligence-led measures such as Body Orifice Security Scanners (BOSS chairs) to detect internally concealed items. 

"We also use drug dogs, conduct regular searches and work closely with the police.

"Anyone found with drugs will be dealt with severely."