she gained two A-Levels in psychology and communication studies. Five of the six universities to which she then applied to continue her studies accepted her request. Luke Fitzgerald Heroin addiction In November 1997, as Whitear contemplated which university to attend, she became acquainted with 24-year-old Luke Fitzgerald, who had been a heroin addict for three years. Shortly after their acquaintance, Fitzgerald phoned Whitear, asking her to date him. Whitear accepted, although shortly thereafter, Fitzgerald began actively encouraging Whitear to use the drug: initially smoking; later via injecting. Several months later, the father of a friend of Fitzgerald's held a confidential talk with Whitear's parents in which he informed them their daughter had confided in him she was "using heroin". Whitear was confronted about her heroin usage, but insisted she only used the drug from "time to time" in episodes she termed "slipping up". By mid-1998, Whitear's parents had noted marked changes in their daughter's personality: she had changed from a pleasant, outgoing and exuberant young woman into an irritable, insecure and unreliable individual. Nonetheless, her mother would later insist that, although Whitear would "sell anything" to fund her habit as her addiction increased, unlike many addicts, her daughter never stole to fund her habit. Counselling With help from drug counsellors, Whitear occasionally managed to avoid drug consumption for extended periods of time. To her family's relief, on one occasion in 1999, she chose to re-apply for a university place, opting to study psychology and sociology at the University of Bath. In August 1999, she began studying at this university, but abandoned her studies after one term as her heroin dependency increased. Shortly thereafter, in late 1999, Whitear informed her parents she and Fitzgerald were moving from Withington to Exmouth, where they had secured a rented flat in Lyndhurst Road. Relocation and separation By early January 2000, the two had moved to Lyndhurst Road, Exmouth, where Whitear obtained a series of low-paying jobs in locations such as a bar in Bath and a shop in Exmouth. Within weeks of this move, Whitear phoned her parents, asking to return to Herefordshire. Her parents agreed, and Whitear briefly returned to their home. Shortly thereafter, her parents returned home one evening to discover Whitear lying unresponsive on her bed; briefly unconscious from an injection of heroin. By February 2000, Whitear had returned to Exmouth. Shortly thereafter, she informed Fitzgerald—who is known to have physically