UK - Norfolk teenager ate 100 magic mushrooms [UK]

[chillinwill]

A teenager took 100 magic mushrooms as he sat by a Norfolk riverbank and then crashed through the window of a house boat, a court heard today.

Charles Blake was so high after taking so many of the hallucinatory fungi that he could have easily fallen into the River Thurne and drowned instead of crashing through the houseboat in Martham.

Blake was ordered to pay £322.82 compensation to the boat owner after he admitted causing criminal damage on the evening of October 9.

Yarmouth Magistrates' Court heard the 19-year-old had boiled and eaten the magic mushrooms in the space of 30 minutes while he sat on the riverbank near the Martham Boat Company.

Gary Mayle, prosecuting, said that at about 6.20pm some fisherman heard a loud crash and then saw Blake in a confused state with blood pouring from his feet.

Mr Mayle said: “He was wearing just his jeans. He was acting in a somewhat odd manner. He screamed and shouted that 'I was going to die'.”

The fishermen then discovered that Blake, of Rollesby Road, Martham, had suffered his feet injuries after he had fallen through the window of the boat house - leaving the interior of the craft covered in blood.

Because of the paranoid effects of the magic mushrooms Blake was convinced he was being followed along the riverbank.

Mr Mayle said: “In a reckless moment he had smashed through the window of a houseboat nearby. He had no specific recollection of the incident. He was under the influence of magic mushrooms.”

Magistrates were told that Blake, who is blind in one eye, had three previous convictions for criminal damage and is on benefits.

Annette Hall, representing Blake, said: “He accepts through his stupidity in taking the magic mushrooms that he has actually caused this offence.

“A very, very foolish thing to do and one he bitterly regrets.”

Chair of the bench Ken Barnes, sentencing Blake, said: “You could have lost your life that night. We are told you have learnt something from this. I hope so.”

Blake, who has a two-year-old daughter, was ordered to pay £322.82 compensation but no order for prosecution costs was made because of his financial situation.

By ANTHONY CARROLL
28 October 2008 12:35
EDP24News
http://new.edp24.co.uk/content/news/...A36%3A00%3A517