Heroin is still haunting the Oxfordshire village of Wheatley TWO YEARS after a drug action group was set up.

The killer drug has been named by police as the likely substance taken by 20-year-old James Low before he choked on his own vomit.

And beat officer Brian Price has vowed to track down the dealer who sold him his lethal fix.

Villagers told of their shock after the former Wheatley Park School pupil was found dead at his parents' home in Ladder Hill on Friday. Pc Price said: "I understand James choked on his own vomit after taking something, which was probably heroin. This was a tragic incident and we will now do everything we can to arrest the dealer who supplied the drug.

"James came from a very nice family and his parents are devastated. We are now conducting inquiries to try to make sure we are not faced with another tragic death."

The drug-related death is a stark reminder that the picturesque village was dubbed a "heroin haven" by the national media two years ago, with teenagers openly taking the drug in the High Street. Police and parish councillors launched a drug action group to clamp down on dealing, and 15 of the village's 30 registered addicts began rehabilitation. But James's death shows heroin is still a problem.

A post-mortem examination was being carried out to establish the exact cause of death and an inquest is expected to be opened and adjourned in Oxford this week.

James's father runs an electrical, plumbing and hardware business, Smith & Low, in Hollow Way, Cowley. Yesterday at the family home, Edge Hill, no-one was available for comment. But one former schoolmate, who did not want to be identified, said: "I knew James at Wheatley Park School. He was fairly quiet but he was musical and for a while he played in a band with some other boys."

A village shopkeeper added: "James has a younger brother called Sean who is 18 or 19. He will be devastated and so will his parents, who are very respectable."

Pc Price claimed Wheatley's drug problem was not as serious now as it used to be.

"Two or three years ago there was a heroin culture nationally and that was reflected in Wheatley," he said. "I don't think there are that many people on heroin in this area at the moment, but those who are are probably a legacy of that period."

Wheatley parish councillor Peter Audley-Miller said: "In 1997, there was certainly a real drugs problem. A number of organisations reacted, police brought an increased presence into the village and there was a major improvement. "Three years ago, police were taking a lot of action to clamp down on drugs in Oxford, so the dealers were being displaced to Wheatley and other big villages.

"I am a governor at both Wheatley Park School and Wheatley Junior School and there is no apparent drugs problem, but needles are still being found from time to time in the village. A greater police presence would help."

Story date: Wednesday 13 October

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