JEFF BRAZIER DESCRIBES EFFORTS TO HELP SON FREDDY

Jeff Brazier has described searching the streets for his son Freddy during what he called a six-year struggle with addiction. Speaking to Matt Willis on the On The Mend podcast, Brazier said he had repeatedly tried to bring Freddy home. He said he had asked police for help and stood in front of his front door to stop Freddy leaving. “I couldn't do anything to stop it,” he said of Freddy’s addiction.

Brazier said the hardest part was seeing Freddy experience psychosis when he used substances. He said Freddy walked the streets during those episodes, leaving him uncertain about what might happen. On some occasions, Brazier said, Freddy fled after he found him and tried to bring him to safety. Brazier said Freddy had been sectioned and had spent time in rehabilitation. He said those interventions had not changed Freddy’s behaviour.

Brazier raised Freddy and his older brother Bobby after their mother, Jade Goody, died of cervical cancer in 2009. He said he believed Goody would want him to continue supporting Freddy. “What else can I do but keep trying? I just keep trying. I'm never going to stop,” he said. Brazier also spoke about difficulties in Freddy’s relationship with his maternal grandmother, Jackiey Budden.