A DISTRAUGHT mother is terrified her heroin-addicted teenage daughter could suffer the same tragic fate as Kate Walsh.

A heroin addict from the age of 14, the girl has been in and out of rehab for the past 12 months, and has now been reduced to begging to satisfy her £20-a day habit.

Because she has just reached 16 the same age Kate was when she died from a suspected overdose in a squat Social Services can no longer help.

Now the desperate mother, who cannot be named because of legal reasons, wakes up every morning fearing the worst.

Like Kate's parents Anthony and Debbie, she wants the law changed to protect vulnerable young people.

"If she was under 16, I could sign a protection order so social services could help," said the woman, who asked not to be named.

"At 16, teenagers think they are invincible, but they are very vulnerable. I'm petrified something could happen, and I constantly phone her to make sure she is OK.

"If I can't get through I am terrified something dreadful has happened. She could so easily be the next Kate Walsh."

The girl is currently living in a guest house paid for by Swindon Council, and is getting treatment at Druglink, a rehabilitation centre in Old Town. Her mother, who lives in Swindon with her 13-year-old son, provides a bed and a hot meal a few days a week, but the side effects of heroin mean she cannot cope for longer periods.

The girl's mother, who is 32, explained: "She is so hard to handle. I have to see her when she is high, which makes her groggy and sleepy.

"She is hoping to get a methadone prescription, but has been told there is a three-month waiting list. If she gets it I will let her come home."

After a period in rehab, Social Services placed the girl with a foster family, where, unable to mix with her drug-using friends, she managed to beat her cravings.

But within a fortnight of moving back to Swindon last month, she was injecting again.

Her mother said: "It's heartbreaking watching her waste her life away.

"She used to be a normal, bubbly teenager who was good at art and drama and was doing well at school.

"Underneath, she is still a loving, caring person, and I still care deeply for the person I know she really is."

Kate Walsh, of Eastview Terrace, Highworth, was found dead in a Manchester Road squat in January. A multi-agency probe is under way to establish whether more could have been done to save her.