Tributes paid after death of pioneering drugs reformer Peter Krykant

11-06-2025

Mr Krykant became a public figure after he set up an unofficial drugs consumption room in 2020 in a converted ambulance in Glasgow city centre.
He set up the van, which operated in 2020 and 2021, after crowdfunding and using his own money in an effort to highlight the need for a safe space for drug users to inject.
The van was modelled on a similar operation My Krykant, who also battled addiction, visited in Copenhagen and had sterile injecting kits, swabs and Naloxone, as well as a defibrillator.
In 2021, he met with then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to discuss the possibility of opening an Overdose Prevention Centre (OPC) in Scotland.
It is understood Mr Krykant passed away at his home in Larbert. He was 48.
READ NEXT: Two drug users an hour attend drug consumption van service in city centre
Police were called to a property on Graham Avenue in Larbert at around 5.15pm on Monday, June 9 following a report of concern for a person.
The body of 48-year-old man was found inside.
The death is currently being treated as unexplained and a post-mortem examination will be carried out in due course.
Officers said his next of kind has been informed.
READ NEXT: First Minister to meet with Glasgow safe drug consumption activist
Now, tributes have been paid to Mr Krykant who has been described as a "tireless campaigner" and a "one man army".
Paul Sweeney MSP said he was "deeply saddened" by his death.
In a post shared on X he wrote: "I am deeply saddened at the passing of my friend Peter Krykant.
"I don't think Peter often realised the impact he had, but his work did save lives - I saw it with my own eyes.
"May he rest in peace."
I am deeply saddened at the passing of my friend Peter Krykant.
I don't think Peter often realised the impact he had, but his work did save lives - I saw it with my own eyes.
May he rest in peace. https://t.co/EHQ0IMXE0R pic.twitter.com/xsgx0i6INN — Paul Sweeney (@PaulJSweeney) June 11, 2025
Patrick Harvie MSP, Scottish Greens co-leader, said: "We are all deeply saddened to hear of Peter's passing. Everyone from the Scottish Greens is thinking of his family and friends at this extremely difficult time.
"Peter was a tireless campaigner for a fairer, more compassionate approach to handling drug misuse and addiction, and his campaigning has left such an important legacy in the UK's first safe consumption room in Glasgow.
"His advocacy for drug reform, and of course, his yellow van have no doubt saved countless lives in Scotland."
READ NEXT: Consumption room must be the start of real fightback against drug deaths
Lawyer Aamer Anwar said in a post on X that he was "privileged" to represent Mr Krykant when he was arrested for setting up his safe consumption van. Charges against him were later dropper.
He said: "Peter Krykant was a one man army, with a mission to save lives - I was privileged to represent him when he was arrested after setting up his own safe consumption van.
"It was humbling to see him single handedly fight to deliver the first safe consumption room for drugs in the UK.
"Since childhood he was driven by demons, but Peter was also a beautiful, kind and courageous man- he leaves behind his two boys whom he loved dearly and family and friends who will be utterly devastated.
"I hope with time they can find some comfort in that Peter will be at peace and his name will one day be remembered as a drugs campaigner decades ahead of his time."
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Around 5.15pm on Monday, June 9, police attended an address in Graham Avenue, Larbert following a report of a concern for person.
"The body of a 48-year-old man was found within.
"His next of kin has been informed. A post mortem examination will be carried out in due course. The death is being treated as unexplained."

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The Bitcoin businessman battling to save Bedford from the brink

Times

2 hours ago

Times

The Bitcoin businessman battling to save Bedford from the brink

Town centres are in decline. Coffee shop chains replace independent businesses, department stores lie empty long after closing. Disillusionment grows on crime-ridden streets. Yet few have the money or blind ambition to try what Peter McCormack has set out to do in Bedford, a market town that finds itself on the brink. 'When you ask people why they do not come to the town any more, they'll say either it's a shithole or it's dangerous,' the 46-year-old said. 'I warned the police that if they didn't fix it that I would. And they haven't.' The businessman, who made a small fortune on bitcoin, has hired ten private security guards to patrol the streets every Saturday in August, armed with body cams and radios. It's a £10,000 pilot which he hopes will provoke a civic response. 'Because look, I could spend all this money and nobody comes into the town. And then it's pointless. It can't be saved. If people do not come to the town, it will die.' There's a lot at stake. 'In less than a few years time, less than three miles from where we stand there's going to be eight million visitors and they're looking at this town and they go, 'Well, should we invest here, or should I go to Milton Keynes or […] anywhere else?' said Tom Wootton, the Conservative town mayor, indicating the Universal Studios being built next to Bedford. 'We've got a short window and a short time and we've got to make it work.' On a drizzly Thursday in the town centre, more than 60 people, including those who work in support services and business owners, piled into McCormack's café, Real Coffee, to hear McCormack and Wootton speak. They murmur agreement. People don't feel safe. They are angry. McCormack laments the loss of the police station in town, while others share frustration at littered needles and bike thefts. They share horrifying stories of violence, including wielding shovels to scare criminals away from a rundown apartment block. Then a woman chimes in: 'The fear of crime everywhere, nationally, is greater than crime itself.' She could have a point. John Tizard, the police and crime commissioner, told local press that antisocial behaviour was at a long-term low, and that McCormack was pulling a 'political stunt'. The council, in partnership with Bedfordshire police and others, have launched a new public spaces protection order. The police meanwhile have promised more visible patrols and a crackdown on shoplifting, antisocial behaviour and drug crime. Some have seen the efforts: Ghulam Khan, 55, has run the Al-Badar restaurant since 2006 and while business is slowing down, he often sees police apprehending suspects while he is delivering food at night. 'Three to four years ago it was dangerous, but in the last couple of years it is getting better,' he said. When McCormack mentions reports that crime is declining in Bedford, laughter breaks out among the crowd. They don't believe it, pointing out a lot of crime goes unreported. 'Even if it is getting better, I want people to feel safe,' McCormack said. How people feel about crime rates matters as much as, maybe more, than cold hard data. 'My son always says, no one will remember how often you steam clean the streets. It's how unsafe they felt,' Wootton added. Born and raised in Bedford, McCormack now owns the Real Bedford football club and bar as well as the café in town. He's the 'homegrown Bitcoin millionaire' bigged up by the mayor, and it's clear that McCormack feels a personal drive for Bedford's improvement, not least because of his own experiences. On the morning of his community meeting, he walked back into his café, saying 'He was threatening someone with knuckledusters,' a little breathlessly, pointing towards a grey-haired man who had just been bundled into a police car, a woman blowing kisses to him through the blackened window. Most worryingly, there has been a sharp increase in assaults on women in the town, McCormack said: 'I would like to improve the safety for everyone in the town. But I'm the father to a daughter and the partner to a girlfriend. They're my primary concern.' The security guards will function almost as scarecrows, deterring crime and calling the police when a crime is committed, he said. 'Will they be using their statutory powers to do citizen's arrests? No. That said, if one of them down the alley catches somebody sexually assaulting a young girl, I absolutely fully expect them to sit on top of that person and have the police come and look,' McCormack explained. But some people are worried about McCormack's plan. 'I agree with the initial incentive but I still feel it's shortsighted, and will make already marginalised people feel more pushed out,' said Siobhan Moriarty-Jones, who works at the Cavalier Club Barbershop that offers free haircuts to homeless people. 'This feels like a neanderthal approach. We don't have mental health provisions in Bedford so that is the repercussions, such as drug misuse.' McCormack returns again and again to discussing the 'plague' of drug addicts and drug dealers he sees pass by his café. He is sympathetic — he used to struggle with drug addictions himself — but 'cares more about those in the town who get up and work'. Dawn Manu, a 65-year-old with lupus, has a list of complaints about the town, and its services. Yet she worries that using force ignores the struggles people face and could simply push them into prisons. 'I've kicked off in town, I looked like I'd lost the plot, but I am annoyed,' she said. Perceptions matter, and people are wary of talking down a town that has much to offer. 'It breaks my heart when I come and I see all the problems because we've got some really fantastic shops and offerings,' Wootton added. 'A small element is ruining it for everybody, so I support anything that helps.'

Hundreds gather in Aberdeen and Edinburgh to protest Donald Trump

The National

a day ago

The National

Hundreds gather in Aberdeen and Edinburgh to protest Donald Trump

PROTESTS against US president Donald Trump have started in Aberdeen with Scottish Greens MSPs in attendance. Demonstrators have gathered in Union Terrace Gardens with various placards, including several pointing out his previous friendship with disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. See some pictures from the protest below as Scots voice their anger over the president's four-day visit to his Turnberry and Menie estates. (Image: Nick Forbes/PA Wire) (Image: Nick Forbes/PA Wire) (Image: Nick Forbes/PA Wire)Scottish Greens MSP Maggie Chapman spoke at the demonstration, where she took a stance against Trump's comments on the genocide in Gaza and his general politics. "We say 'no' to the genocide in Palestine, and we say 'no' any politician who says that their politics has to be built on hate, has to be built on division, and has to be built on enriching the billionaires while the majority of the rest of the world starve', Chapman said. 'Not in our name. Never in our name. That is why we are here today.' Trump arrived at Prestwick Airport on Friday evening before heading to the Turnberry estate in South Ayrshire. He is expected to visit his Menie estate before opening a new course dedicated to his mother, Mary Anne Macleod, who was raised on the Isle of Lewis. READ MORE: Trump International to receive £180k from Scottish Government for tournament Lewis residents have also taken a stance against the convicted felon, with vintage and home décor store Lewis Revival displaying a banner reading 'Shame on you, Donald John', signed by locals and tourists alike. The business, based just miles away from his mother's birthplace, previously displayed the banner in March after Trump's meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, though it was subsequently removed by the local council. Elsewhere, protests have started in Edinburgh outside of the US Consulate. Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie and MSP Ross Greer are set to attend the demonstration in the capital, after the party issued fresh calls for Trump's finances to be investigated by the Scottish Government through an Unexplained Wealth Order.

Protests start in Aberdeen amidst Donald Trump visit