British Teen on Meow Stabs Mom, Slices Off Own Penis

Winnie McCroy READ TIME: 2 MIN.

A teenager on Christmas break in the UK reportedly stabbed his mother, then cut off his penis while allegedly high on the party drug meow meow, otherwise known as mephedrone, a synthetic, amphetamine-like stimulant.

According to an article in the UK Mirror, the 19-year-old, described by neighbors as "a lovely lad," was dabbling in drugs when he "flipped out, attacking his mum and then himself."

The 46-year-old mother from Haywards Heath, West Sussex, called the police, who raced to the scene to find the boy with what was left of his penis hanging out of a bedroom window, spraying blood everywhere.

Both were rushed to the hospital in the early morning hours of December 29, 2013. The mother was in a stable condition at the Royal Sussex County hospital in Brighton, and the young man had his penis successfully sewn back on by surgeons at University College London hospital.

"He is normally a lovely lad and very bright. But unfortunately, he had started dabbling in drugs," a neighbor told the Mirror. "He had come home from university for Christmas. It looks like he took mephedrone and completely flipped out attacking his mum and then himself."

The drug, also known as M-Cat, was made illegal in the UK in 2010, although it is not regulated in some areas. The number of deaths caused by these so-called "legal highs" soared by 80 percent in 2013, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), as reported by Huffington Post. Regionally, mortality rates from drug misuse were significantly higher in Wales than in England in 2012, at 45.8 to 35.4 deaths per million, respectively.

Sussex police are investigating allegations of assault on the mother, and Detective Inspector David Springett told the Mirror, "at this stage we are not looking for anyone else in connection with this incident."


by Winnie McCroy , EDGE Editor

Winnie McCroy is the Women on the EDGE Editor, HIV/Health Editor, and Assistant Entertainment Editor for EDGE Media Network, handling all women's news, HIV health stories and theater reviews throughout the U.S. She has contributed to other publications, including The Village Voice, Gay City News, Chelsea Now and The Advocate, and lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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