Lying dead on a grubby carpet, a young man once called the next Alan Shearer.

The shocking image is published in today's Northern Echo with the full support of John Courtney's family, in the hope it will stop others from taking drugs.

This is how John was found the morning after scoring his final fix - aged only 21. He was slumped alone, half-dressed, still clutching the syringe of heroin that killed him.

The former Newcastle United trainee was once tipped for football fame.

He played alongside Michael Chopra, Lee Clark tipped him for the top and respected Magpies' star-spotter Brian Clark described him as "another Shearer".

But after heroin got a grip, he threw it all away and turned to crime to feed the habit which, in only a few years, would take his life.

With an horrific image that mirrors the dying moments of ecstasy victim Leah Betts, his close-knit family has handed these pictures over in a bid to rid the streets of killer drugs.

His mother, Angie, 46, said: "It is killing us looking at these pictures, but we know we have to give them to the Press to make sure something gets done.

"If we can save just one life by showing everyone how John ended up, then it is worth it to us. These drugs have robbed us of a beautiful and caring and loving son.

"Would any of the dealers like to put their children in a coffin and put them under the ground and bury them, because that's happened to our family. The pain of losing John to heroin is unbearable.

"There's no words on God's earth that can take the pain away."

His sister, Jo-Ann, 28, said: "He went from being a lovely, happy lad to a horrible, nasty demon.

"By the end of his life, he was evil and was made that way by the Devil's dust he was putting into his veins.

"I once asked him why he took it and he said it was like falling into cotton wool and it took all your troubles away. But what he could never realise was that, once he came off it, the troubles were still there."

A few years earlier, it had been so different. Like so many on Tyneside, centre forward John grew up with dreams of playing for his beloved football team.

But unlike most, he had the talent to make it, and was taken into the Newcastle United School of Excellence aged only 12. Newcastle scout Brian Clark said he was an exciting prospect and the club's ex-assistant boss, John Carver, also singled him out.

Former United favourite Lee Clark would even pick him up from his home and drive him to training sessions at Walker Central Boys Club, because he thought he was such a promising player.

But two weeks before his 18th birthday, he dabbled with heroin for the first time and very soon was hooked.

After a year of abuse, John even started to steal from loved ones to feed the habit which was to kill him.

Mother-of-three Jo-Ann, one of John's six sisters, told of his rapid decline as the drug took hold of him.

She said: "He said he was going to stay at a friend's for a drink but it ended up being heroin. At first, it was a weekend thing. Then it started eating into his week and he would be taking it on Mondays and Tuesdays.

"Within months he was completely hooked and it was every day. He tried to hold down jobs as a labourer, but he couldn't manage it because of the drugs.

"Then it was every day. Just this March, he told me he had spent £90 in one day on heroin.

"He broke into my house three times. The last time, he took the kids' Christmas clothes to sell. But I think that was too much for him and he felt too guilty, so gave them back."

John's family decided to contact the police every time he stole from them and four times he was remanded in jail on charges of theft.

But two weeks after being released from Durham Prison on a burglary charge, he was found dead in his uncle's flat, killed by an overdose.

Angie said: "I was praying to God to help him to get off the stuff and begging John, crying. I used to break my heart in front of him and say 'please, please get help'."

His father John, 51, a chronic arthritis sufferer, said: "The drugs are just the scourge on God's earth.

"The dealers that sell them are dirty, murdering scum."

Police investigating John's death have vowed to clamp down on dealers peddling drugs.

Detective Inspector Lee Buzzeo, of Newcastle police command area, said: "The dangers of drug taking, particularly among young people are all too apparent.

"The tragic circumstances surrounding John Courtney's death are being investigated on behalf of the coroner.

"Families can be torn apart by drugs abuse and we take a strong line in tracking down and putting dealers before the courts."