A HEROIN addict who accidentally killed his friend by injecting her with the drug has been jailed for four years.

Jeremy Hill-Baker, prosecuting, said that Sally Ann Cockerill fell unconscious almost immediately after Peter Nigel Loche, 33, gave her the heroin in a tent near the National Railway Museum.

The couple were part of a group of homeless people and drug users, who congregated on wasteland near the museum in July last year.

Ms Cockerill, a street drinker, of Burdyke Avenue, Clifton, never regained consciousness, and died some five hours later despite attempts by Loche and others to revive her.

Paul Williams, for Loche, told York Crown Court that his client was stricken with remorse over her death, and had tried to kill himself while in prison on remand.

Loche, no fixed address, pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

The Honorary Recorder of York, Judge Paul Hoffman, said: "This sort of tragic unintended death caused by one heroin addict injecting another at the request of the other, is, alas, becoming all too common, and therefore the courts must try to discourage this sort of action by custodial sentences."

Mr Hill-Baker said that on its own, the heroin was unlikely to have killed Ms Cockerill, but she had drunk a lot of alcohol and the two combined to kill her.

Mr Williams said that medical tests showed that Ms Cockerill had 305 mls of alcohol in 100 mls of blood. The irony of the case was that when Loche split the heroin he kept 60 per cent for himself, injected himself and survived, whereas Ms Cockerill died.

Mr Williams said that the couple had been friends but were not in a sexual relationship. He felt fond towards her.

Loche has previous convictions for wounding and assault and has served prison sentences in the past.

Updated: 11:45 Tuesday, January 21, 2003