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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Lynn Love & Alahna Kindred

Grieving mum stunned after police said her drunk son was in van months after he'd died

A grieving mum has told of how police knocked on her door claiming her drunk son was in the back of their van - 15 months after he died.

Tracey Hadlow, 53, lost her son Nathan following an accidental overdose in April 2021.

Ms Hadlow, from Livingston, says she was left distressed when two police came to her door on July 3 saying they brought an "intoxicated" stranger to her house, claiming he was her dead child.

She told the Daily Record she felt like she was reliving the traumatic moment of his death when officers turned up at her door.

Nathan Hadlow with mum Tracy (Daily Record)

The mum-of-three said: "When I think about it now, I want to cry. It was awful.

"When Nathan died, police came to the house late at night to tell me they had found his body.

"I felt like I was reliving that nightmare all over again."

Tracy said cops banged on her door at 3.45am to tell her they had her son before realising they were at the wrong house.

The NHS Clinical Support worker added: "The officer told me my boy was in the van.

"My boy is dead and my other son was sitting in the living room.

Nathan Hadlow died of an accidental drug overdose (Daily Record)
Nathan died in April 2021 (Daily Record)

"When I told the officer the situation, he just stared at me with a vacant look.

"He obviously knew then that he had made a mistake, but he wasn't quick to apologise."

Tracy said the police turning up at her house brought back the emotions she had spent the previous year battling with.

She explained: "It was a distressing situation which brought back all the emotions I felt when I found out my boy died last year.

"It was not okay. I felt extremely heartbroken all over again.

"They could have taken him to any house, but it was mine they came to. I'm just so angry and upset at them for putting me through this."

She has previously said she believes Nathan could be alive today if Scotland’s drug laws had changed a year earlier, claiming he never received any help or support for his addiction issues.

She said: "I firmly believe that if Nathan got the help he needed from the right professionals he could be here today."

She said she was shocked to find out the number of people who died from drug misuse in Scotland last year had fallen by just one per cent and said more needs to be done to combat the major issue.

A Police Scotland spokesperson told The Mirror: " A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “While dealing with a concern for a person incident, officers attended an incorrect address on Harburn Avenue, Livingston at 4am on Sunday, July 3 2022.

“We acknowledge the upset that this caused to the householder and officers have apologised in person."

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