A worried mother has claimed a Fermanagh teenager is selling cocaine to her drug addict son costing him almost £200 a week and fears he could “end up dead” before this year is out.

Pauline (not her real name) alleges that up to three suspected drug dealers are supplying her vulnerable son with drugs such as cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis and “emptying” his bank account of his benefits every week.

“My son is in his late 20s. He’s a drug user but he will put drugs and alcohol before everything else. I know for a fact that he uses cocaine, cannabis, ecstasy tablets. They are the three I know he has access to,” she told The Impartial Reporter.

“There is a completely different son who takes alcohol, a different son who gets high. He tells us he doesn’t use them, but we know for a fact that he does,” she said.

After accidentally stumbling upon social media messages, Pauline recently made the discovery that her son has become addicted to drugs. She feels frightened and powerless.

“I knew before that he had taken cannabis and people will tell you cannabis is the party drug and that it seems to be quite commonly used. But cocaine is a completely different thing and because he has underlying health issues it is worrying,” she said.

She believes the drugs are “regularly obtained” by him via at least three drug dealers, one of whom she says is as young as 18-years-old.

“There is a bus stop opposite a shop, that is a pick-up. There is also a path that leads off a housing estate which seems to be a meeting place,” she said.

In less than a year her son has lost weight and appears ‘gaunt’ because “he will put drugs before everything else”.

“Food, telephone, heating, electricity all those things are second to drugs. He has mental health issues, he has paranoia.

“His house was attacked which he attributed to the fact that he couldn’t pay a drugs bill. He was paranoid, thinking people were looking at him, thinking his house was being watched,” she said.

If his “usual” dealers can’t supply him “he will get the drugs from someone else”.

“He’s an adult he knows what he’s doing,” she said.

“But these people don’t care about him. He gets the drugs on tick, they wait for his benefits to go in. He gets messages asking; has your money gone in? That’s money that he doesn’t have. The alcohol is cheap, but the drugs are costing more money”.

She claims drugs in Fermanagh “are very accessible”, including by people operating in pubs.

“The people locally know where to go. For my son it’s just a simple message to these people and he can access cocaine within an hour.

“I know that one of the guys had to get a lift and my son had to pay an extra £10 on top of the £90. He was then getting them on tick so he’s always playing catch up. He goes to one, gets it on tick, goes to the next one and it’s a vicious circle”.

Pauline is “frightened” about giving the names of the alleged drug dealers to the Police Service of Northern Ireland because of the potential of putting her son “at risk”.

“I am worried about giving those names to the police because that could come back on my son; thinking he may have grassed them up. There is no accounting for what they would do,” she said.

She says she now spends her days searching to see if he is online and asking his neighbours if his curtains are open.

“When you put your head on the pillow at night you wonder where he is. You check when he was online last, check the other family members to see if he has sent a message just to see if he’s ok.

“If you haven’t heard from him in a couple of days because he’s on a bender you are scared. I text people to see if his curtains are open, but every day you look to see if he’s online,” she said.

And she fears for the future, saying: “This is not going to a good place”.

“I don’t know at the beginning of 2021 where he’ll be; he has been spiralling out of all control in the past 12 months because of cocaine.

“I am worried that he is going to be found dead, from a drugs overdue, an accidental drugs overdose, or the illusions you get on cannabis and cocaine. I have no idea.

“Or if he doesn’t pay up, what happens? I would bring him money for his phone and food but I will not pay drug dealers. I cannot get involved with these people. My number one worry is something will happen to him or something will be done to him,” she said.

If you or someone you know needs help, you can telephone Lifeline free at any time. Lifeline is a crisis response helpline available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To report a crime to police in Fermanagh call 101.

How bad is the drugs problem in your area? If you have information on the sale of illegal drugs in Fermanagh contact Rodney Edwards on redwards@impartialreporter.com in the strictest of confidence.