Belfast Crown Court heard yesterday that a young Ballyclare man was found dead on a settee after drinking liquid methadone combined with alcohol. A prosecution lawyer claimed the opiate-type drug had been given to Mr Robert James Heaney (22) by his friend Mr Raymond Hogg, for whom it had been prescribed.
Mr Hogg (27), formerly of Ballyclare, Co Antrim, but now with an address in Britain, is denying the manslaughter of Mr Heaney . He has also pleaded not guilty to supplying the drug to the victim and two other friends on February 13th last year. Mr Pat Lynch QC told the jury that the three men, with others, were drinking in a Ballyclare bar when Mr Hogg offered the bottle of methodone to his friends. The trial continues before Mr Justice McLaughlin today.