DEVASTATED mother Mandy Hussey yesterday spoke out about the evils of heroin after fearing the drug had killed her only son Leon.

Twenty-year-old Leon was found unconscious and not breathing at his father Robin’s home in Abingdon just a few hours after celebrating the start of the new year.

Paramedics, who spent an hour trying to revive him, told the family they suspected the former Larkmead School pupil had been injected with heroin. Two people were arrested by police on suspicion of supplying a controlled drug.

Ms Hussey paid tribute to her ‘sweet and kind boy’ and was adament he was not a heroin user.

Ms Hussey, 44, said: “The paramedics said Leon had been injected with heroin but I know he would never touch the stuff.

“We always talked to him about drugs and he was always dead against that kind of thing.”

Ms Hussey said she knew her only son had experimented with cannabis as he was always honest with her, but added he was against heroin use.

And she repeated what she had told her son: “Heroin is no good. It will kill you. It’s a life-ruiner.”

Mr Hussey had arrived with two other people at the home he shared with his father at about 2am after queuing outside the Regal nightclub in East Oxford.

At 5.30am one of his two companions woke his father to tell him he was not breathing.

Mr Hussey dialled 999 and called Leon’s mother Mandy, who lives in Crosslands Drive.

Mr Hussey was due to start a new job as a chef at the Boundary House pub, in Oxford Road, Abingdon, on Saturday.

His mother said: “All I ever wanted was a boy and now he has been taken I’m devastated. He was funny and popular and loved to make people laugh.

“He was always getting up to something. When he was about 12 he offered to clean my friend’s car for £5. When he finished she gave him the money. Only later did she realise he had only cleaned the half of the car you could see from the window.

“We’re going to have a huge funeral for Leon, probably one of the biggest Abingdon has ever seen.

“He was the sweetest, kindest boy. Everyone loved him. This has come as a massive shock. I cannot say how much I wish he was still here.”

Mr Hussey’s sister Robyn, 22, from Hinton Waldrist, said: “When I found out he was dead it was like a bad dream.

“I’ve got three young boys and he loved being their uncle and taking them to feed the ducks in Abingdon.

“He was so kind and nice and he never judged anybody.”

His father added: “He was just perfect to me. I loved him so much and miss him.”

A memorial page for Leon has been set up on the Facebook website and already boasts more than 380 friends.

A post mortem examination will take place either today or tomorrow.

A 20-year-old woman and a 23-year-old man have been released on police bail pending further enquiries.