PAUL Gascoigne has been left heartbroken by the death of his drug addict
nephew.
The body of Jay Kerrigan, 22, was found at a tower block in the early hours.
A pal of footie legend Gazza said: “He is devastated. Jay was a lovely lad.
“He has had a problem with drugs for a while now but was trying his hardest.
The family are shattered.”
Jay’s actress mum Anna, 49, is Gazza’s sister. She has spent years supporting
the former England star, 48, in his own battles with alcoholism, drug
addiction and mental health problems.
In 2008 she made a public plea to fans to stop buying him drinks for fear it
would kill him.
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Jay lived with Anna, his stepdad Michael, a drummer and band promoter, and
sister Harley, 20, in Gateshead. He was working as an admin assistant for
environmental charity Groundwork North East.
Messages he posted on Facebook told of his drug battle. In November he wrote:
“I’ve done some terrible s**t this year and lost all my friends because of
it.”
In January he said: “Addiction is a disease, I was born with it. I haven’t
smiled in years, I feel trapped. For heavens sake I’ve just came out of
emergency heart surgery and now I’m back on it again.”
Pals rallied to support him. But just weeks ago he put a long, rambling post
on Facebook about drugs and talked about suicide to escape his addiction.
Paramedics were called to Warwick Court, a ten-storey block of flats where
tenants pay £85-a-week rent, at 12.30am on Saturday. Jay’s cause of death is
not known but police do not believe anyone else is involved.
Last month Gazza was pictured
looking battered and bruised after taking a fall during a two-day binge.
He later said
the photo in The Sun saved him because it made him realise the state he
was in.