The Dover Express attracted newspaper orders from around the world after securing the first press interview in 20 years with former drummer of pop-group The Clash – Nick “Topper” Headon
Dozens of enquiries came in after reporters Jonathan Holden and Laura Smith came up with the idea of tipping off fan websites that the piece was going to appear.
The Express has sent copies of the two editions in which the interview ran all over the UK and to France, Germany and the US.
Editor Simon Finlay said: “I have pursued him periodically to do an interview and he has refused every time, then he rang me up out of the blue.
“He was really candid about the things that have happened to him and the things he has done -basically ‘My drugs’ hell’.
“He’s a man who went from being a relatively rich man who had been touring the world with The Clash, to being a homeless, penniless junkie who went to prison for supplying heroin.
“In order to turn his life around he came back to his home town of Dover and the family are very well known around here.”
By Dominic Ponsford
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