Swansea Love Story vs the Law

Cornelius and the author (and his dad and some cousins) in happier times.

Well done to South Wales police for putting 26 drug addicts and low level dealers in prison for a few months where they can buy drugs more easily than on the street. Oh, and also thanks for telling all the people they arrested that it was our fault. Look at this guy here:

Doesn't exactly look like a kingpin, does he?

And nor do these guys, one of whom is our friend Cornelius Collins, who was the lead character in Swansea Love Story along with his girlfriend Amy Protheroe. We hope this latest spell in prison isn't too harsh for you pal.

When this story broke, I was contacted by Leo Leigh, with whom I made this film. He said: "We had no intention to lead the police to arrest anybody involved with drugs in Swansea. We just wanted to show how out of control and hard it is for people with an addiction. This film could have been made in any city or town. We hope that in the future there will be more help in Swansea for heroin users. It took our film for the authorities to do something about the heroin use in Swansea and this isn't the best way."

I agree with him. Maybe we were being naive, but we made this film with the intention that it would "make a difference." Meaning that there'd be more help for people with optionless lives and the part of society that shows them compassion, rather than the part that enjoys peeing on them while they slept, stealing their shoes, or beating them up in alleyways.

We definitely didn't make it with the intention of inspiring a street sweeping exercise that won't change a single thing in Swansea's drug culture apart from tidying up the town centre for a few weeks.

ANDY CAPPER