A HEROIN addict recruited to assist the suicide of a father whose life had collapsed has been jailed.

Philip Makinson had twice tried to kill himself after suffering from depression following the death of his sister-in-law and mother in late 2012, the collapse of his business and the break-up of a relationship.

Makinson then chose to enlist the help of Lyndsay Jones, who he knew to be a heroin addict.

She obtained and prepared a lethal dose of heroin before leaving him in his flat to die.

Makinson was then found dead aged 59 on February 1 at his flat in Lindfield Drive, Halliwell.

Police said his death was nothing like assisted suicides you see in the news, and that there was nothing "dignified or peaceful" about it.

Jones, aged 36, of no fixed abode, was jailed for four years and six months at Manchester Crown Court, Crown Square.

Makinson had previously made two suicide attempts, the first coming in November 2012 when he cut his own wrists.

In the time that followed, Makinson revealed to a close friend that he still wished to take his own life, but that cutting his wrists had been ‘too painful’.

He then asked Jones to buy him some heroin and to prepare a fatal overdose, which she did on New Year's Day 2013.

Police say Jones tried to keep some heroin for herself, not giving Makinson enough to kill him, and he was found by friends having suffered a non-fatal overdose.

After recovering from his first attempt, Makinson asked Jones for her help again, and the attempts were successful.

In the hours that followed, Jones panicked about evidence left in Makinson’s flat and returned to take his phone, which she knew would contain incriminating text messages.

She told her then partner, who recorded the conversations on his mobile phone and told police what she had said almost a year later after they had fallen out.

Det Chief Insp Rick Jackson said: “This was not like the cases of assisted suicide you read about in the media involving men and women with terminal illnesses who decide to end their suffering in a dignified and peaceful manner.

“There was nothing dignified, or peaceful, about Mr Makinson’s death.

“This was not a mercy killing. Jones was not motivated by altruism, but by greed, and greed alone.

“This is proven by the fact that she failed in her first attempt to kill Mr Makinson because she tried to keep too much of the heroin for herself.

“A man came to her in desperation and instead of providing a helping hand, she provided the killer blow by both obtaining and preparing the injection which would eventually kill him."

Makinson's mother Annie Makinson died in December, 2012, aged 92, and his brother Warren died, aged 66, in July 2013.

Mr Makinson's daughter Shelley paid tribute to her dad on the first Fathers' Day after his death.

She said: "In my life you'll always live on. You'll always be my number one.

"You were the best dad in the world. Go enjoy your bike ride on this special day."