TWO wild-eyed Zombie-like men sway on a bridge above a dual carriageway as morning commuters gasp in horror. Naked men are seen running through the street and shopping centres, screaming in terror as they are ‘chased by the Devil’ after taking a mind-warping hit of monkey dust.
These horrifying sights have become all too common in Stoke-on-Trent, which has been gripped for more than five years by a dust epidemic. The synthetic drug — also known as cannibal or zombie dust – makes users wildly hallucinate with terrifying visions of snakes on their bodies or being hunted down by demons.
In the first part of The Sun’s new series, Hooked, which reveals the drug epidemics in towns up and down the nation, we visited the embattled city, where deaths caused by monkey dust have chillingly included that of a newborn baby. Many ‘dustheads’, as they are known, want to jump off buildings and some have been known to eat glass.
The drug was available for just £2 but drug workers have said increasing demand has pushed the price up to £10 for three hits in this part of the Potteries. One grandfather, who has tried to help homeless users, told The Sun: ‘It’s the worst drug. It’s the devil’s work – it’s much worse than heroin. It messes with people’s mind.
“I have spoken to lots of dustheads and one said he saw the devil coming out of the roof and a church. “They get so paranoid – one man tried to kick down the police station door as he tried to get away from ‘terrorists’ and ‘bombs’ going off. “I saw woman curl up in a ball and stay by a doorway for 14 hours. It’s terrifying.”
The 62-year-old volunteer, who wanted to remain anonymous, added: “Monkey dust needs taking off the street. It should be classed as the most dangerous drug.” Dust users are seen begging in the street, shuffling by in the main shopping areas or hanging about in the city’s park openly taking the drug.
Waiting for a fare nearby, taxi driver Imran Ahmed, 48, said: “You see them all the time like zombies. They can look quite scary. “I saw two of them on a bridge over one of the main roads the other day. They want to jump to fly.” He added: “It’s sad for the city that we’ve become the monkey dust capital of the country. It doesn’t look good for the place.
“The dustheads get some money together and then catch a cab to go and buy their drugs. But they steal off each other as well. “I have spoken to lots of dustheads and one said he saw the devil coming out of the roof and a church”, said Anonymous resident. “I refuse to take them now in my cab because of hygiene. They have a very particular smell and it’s not nice.” According to those who have encountered addicts, monkey dust can make users’ sweat smell like prawns.
Apocalypse horror
Walking through the Hanley area of Stoke, dust user Suzanne, 34, told The Sun: “It makes you feel sexy but you see really weird ****. “I saw an angel falling from the sky, chasing me, followed by thunderbolts.” A homeless worker, who did not wish to be named, said: “It’s evil stuff.
“You see dustheads scratching at their neck and bodies thinking snakes or spiders are on them.” Monkey dust’s chemical name is Methylenedioxypyrovalerone or MDPV. The off-white powder can be snorted, injected, swallowed or smoked. It has been linked to face-eating attacks in the US. Monkey dust arrived in Stoke in the mid-2000s and soon became popular with homeless people unable to afford more expensive hits.
The yellow-grey powder is a class B drug – and possession could land you a five-year prison sentence. Monkey dust really took off in the Staffordshire city, famous for its pottery industry, in 2018. “I saw one man run down the street naked screaming his head off… It’s like something from an apocalypse horror film”, Emma Harris.
One paramedic wrote on Facebook at the time: “Drove through Stoke two nights ago, it’s like a scene from Night Of The Living Dead. “Monkey dust’s not a problem, it’s already an epidemic.” The drug, which is believed to made in labs in China, has left a trail of devastation in its wake in Stoke and its five surrounding towns.
Local residents have told of seeing screaming users run down the street while suffering terrifying hallucinations. One cop who tried to handcuff a suspect said it was like wrestling the “Incredible Hulk”, while it has taken up to six paramedics to restrain users.
One user was captured on video wildly flailing his arms on a house’s roof before he fell to the ground. Mum-of-two Emma Harris, 32, said: “I saw one man run down the street naked screaming his head off. “He had broken into a house but then ran away. “It was very unnerving. It’s like something from an apocalypse horror film.”
Zombie town
Hairdressing student Kara Burton, 16, said: “It’s scary – they look like zombies. “You see them on the side of the road.” Police mugshots of ravaged addicts have shown the effects of the powerful drug. Addict Sarah Salt was jailed for 27-months for arson and reckless endangerment two years ago after she set fire to a building in a terrified panic while high.
The 44-year-old mother barricaded herself in her flat as she thought her abusive former partner was coming for her. Mugshot of Sarah Salt, who was jailed for arson. And in November 2018 Kevin Eagles, then aged 34, climbed onto the roof of his flat and began hurling roof tiles and other missiles at police and members of the public below during a six-hour standoff.
Eagles had been on a four-day bender snorting monkey dust with no sleep and wrongly believed the police were chasing and harassing him. He pleaded guilty to affray and three offences of criminal damage and was jailed for 20 months. Ashley Ford, 25, broke into a family’s home stark naked while high on monkey dust.
A mother and her adult son managed to trap him in their pantry but he proceeded to smash through the glass “like Jack Nicholson in The Shining” to try and escape. He was jailed for 21 months in June 2021 after admitting unlawful wounding, affray and two counts of criminal damage.
Deadly consequences
The addictive drug has also been linked to a spate of deaths. In September, an inquest heard that seven-week-old baby boy Ronnie Higginson died in a squalid home after being exposed to monkey dust by his parents. The baby boy had difficulty breathing but his parents Michael Higginson and Kayleigh Clarke failed to get medical attention before he died from a heart attack in November 2019.
His parents were found guilty of neglect in 2023. Clarke was later jailed for 27 months and Higginson received a 15-month sentence, suspended for two years. Bradley Holder, 19, died in December 2022 after taking the drug and behaving erratically.
The Staffordshire city, where superstar singer Robbie Williams grew up, is famous for its pottery industry, but now sees addicts live in tents in the city’s parks in the summer. Retired factory worker Eric Hughes, 67, said: “We used to be known our pottery and footballers like Stanley Matthews. “Now it’s monkey dust and zombies.”