'˜Breaking Bad' inspired druggie

A drug-user claims he was inspired by Breaking Bad to convert his own kitchen into a crystal meth laboratory.
A drug user said he was inspired by the television series 'Breaking Bad'.A drug user said he was inspired by the television series 'Breaking Bad'.
A drug user said he was inspired by the television series 'Breaking Bad'.

James Stutter, 37, had been paying around £140 for a gram of the drug and thought it would be cheaper to make it himself.

He told St Albans Crown Court: ”Having watched Breaking Bad and a couple of documentaries, I thought it would be easy to make. I had a great idea to make it.”

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Stutter decided to try to manufacture the drug , which is hard to obtain in the UK, in his two-bedroom flat in Long Chaulden.

When the police raided the address they found a recipe book in which his partner Eleanor Hunt, 26, had written out the ingredients for crystal meth. Prosecutor Roxanne Aisthorpe, told the jury: “You may have seen the TV series Breaking Bad. That laboratory was quite professional. That was not what happened in this case.”

She said lithium had been drained from batteries and there were traces of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine in a coffee grinder. Among other items recovered were lighter fuel, acetone, goggles, masks, Epsom salts and hydrogen peroxide.

Police raided the Hemel address after a parcel from the United States to the UK was intercepted on March 17, 2014. Crystal meth had been hidden inside the hollowed out portion of a colouring book.

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The police replaced the drug with a dummy substitute and arrested a man when it was delivered to an address near Hull.

When that man’s iPhone was examined texts were discovered between him and James Stutter.

Stutter, 37, formerly of Long Chaulden, Hemel and Hunt, 26, formerly of Tresco Road, Berkhamsted, now both of Riverside Gardens, Berkhamsted, denied attempting to make methylamphetamine on March 24, 2014. He was convicted, she was cleared by the jury.

He also pleaded guilty to possessing 3.77g cannabis and 1.67g amphetamine with intent to supply.

Recorder Leslie Cuthbert adjourned sentence on Stutter until September 9.

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