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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Robyn Vinter North of England correspondent

‘He was like 10 men after taking cocaine‘: how Britain’s drug habit is fuelling domestic abuse

Graphic of distressed woman with head in knees surrounded by lines of cocaine.
Cocaine has featured in a number of domestic murder cases in recent years. Composite: Guardian Design/Getty Images

During lockdown, Charlotte and her ex-partner would spend evenings cooped up in their flat, listening to music, watching YouTube videos and chatting until the small hours. Those nights would be fuelled by alcohol and lines of cocaine.

“I wanted to be loved, and when he told me he loved me like nobody ever would and nobody ever will, I drank the Kool-Aid,” Charlotte says. “I wanted to believe that. And there’s a point when you’re with somebody and you’re drinking, you’re doing coke, where you think you have this bond, you think it’s just you two in the world.”

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