By Craig Smith

A FIFE father has called for youths to be given greater education about solvent abuse after a teenager who had been sniffing gas was jailed for murder earlier this week.

John O’Brien, whose teenage son Lee died over five years ago after inhaling solvents, was speaking after the sentencing of Bryan Boyle (18) and Greig Maddock (21) at the High Court in Glasgow on Thursday.

The pair were found guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh last month of assaulting and killing Brian Bowie (36) by stuffing news- papers into the young father’s pockets, pouring lighter fuel on him and setting him alight.

The court heard that Boyle had been “buzzing” after sniffing lighter gas and had flown into a violent rage when Bowie made fun of his habit.

After reading this week’s headlines, Mr O’Brien, of Leven, who fronts the Lee O’Brien Solvent Trust (LOST) in Fife, believes more must be done to teach people about the dangers of substance abuse.

“I can only assume that these kids have been sniffing the gas long before this happened and this is the kind of thing that can happen,” he warned and went on to speak about the effect the gas had on people.

“They start hyperventilating and the adrenalin gets going and they don’t know what to do—in this case, they have attacked this person and set him alight.

“There’s already been three deaths in Scotland from solvents so far this year and they are 14, 16 and 18 years old.

“It’s a young age and I would call for more education on the subject as many people get into this habit from an early age.”

According to the charity Solve It, around 60 people a year die from solvent abuse in the UK and many of those are first-time users.

Sniffing butane gas can cause users to feel confused or aggressive and more likely to take risks.

LOST is still campaigning to highlight the dangers involving solvent misuse and Mr O’Brien regularly attends youth events throughout the region to talk to young people about the risks involved.

“We’re still doing the education bit and we work with schools and colleges to get the message across,” he added.

“There are around 50 products in the average home that contain these solvents and it’s just butane gas in every canister—these are all available to kids and it’s right under their parents’ noses.

“I would also like to see more research done because nobody knows how bad the problem really is.”

Boyle, who started the attack on Bowie, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 15 years’ detention, while Maddock was ordered to serve at least 12 years of a life sentence.