Dead junkie pal's pic made Cheryl Cole stay off drugs for life
12 Oct 2008, 1811 Hrs

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London, Oct 12 English singer Cheryl Cole has revealed that it was seeing a picture of a dead heroin junkie friend of hers that put her off from ever trying drugs.

Cole, who is a staunch anti-drugs crusader, saw the picture of her closest friend, as he lay curled up on a grubby carpet, still clutching the needle that killed him, and revealed that it was very shocking to her.

Her friend John Courtney, who was a talented Geordie footballer, had been tipped as the next Alan Shearer before heroin took over his life.

When Cole, 25, saw the picture that had been taken by police and released as a warning by his family, it sparked a renewed zeal in her, making her speak out about junkie celebrities like rocker Pete Doherty, who flaunt their deadly habits.

"It put me off for life. That nightmare devastated all John's family and friends. Seeing him in a coffin was terrible," News of the World quoted her as saying.

"And then to see pictures of Doherty glamorising the habit, and with Kate Moss on his arm, too. It makes me sick. Heroin is Devil's dust. It ruins lives and families and everything it touches," she added. (ANI)