MYLEENE AND HEROIN DEALER LOVE
By Michael Duffy And Niall Donald In Dublin
MYLEENE Klass's fiance is an ex-heroin dealer who spent six years on the run from police.
Graham Quinn, who she is to wed next year, was wanted by Interpol when they met - but kept his past as a dealer secret from her during their first year together.
And it was furious Myleene, 28, who ordered Graham to give himself up once she found out about it.
He had been caught in his home city of Dublin in 1996 carrying more than £1,000 worth of heroin. But he jumped bail, fled to London and changed his name, reinventing himself as a celebrity bodyguard.
The tattooed body-builder, 30, was still on the Interpol wanted list when he began working as guard and tour manager for Myleene's band Hear'Say in 2001.
She was bowled over by him and they swiftly became an item.
Police in Ireland were alerted to his new identity in 2003 after an informant recognised him from pictures in newspapers.
Detectives eventually tracked down his mother in Dublin. And 30 minutes later, after frantic discussions with weeping Myleene, he decided to turn himself in.
She told him they could have no future together if he did not face up to his criminal past. The stress of it all even led Myleene to temporarily dump Graham, whose sister is married to Coronation Street star Keith Duffy.
She said at the time: "We tried talking but it just hasn't worked - I can't be held responsible for what he may have done before I knew him."
But she later vowed to stand by him, saying: "You can't choose who you love. I think it just proves I'm a normal person with normal problems."
And Myleene was at his side in court in Dublin last year when he finally faced justice.
Graham was expecting a lengthy jail sentence after pleading guilty to possessing heroin for sale or supply. But a judge gave him a £1,500 fine and an 18-month suspended jail sentence after hearing he had turned his back on crime.
After the case, Myleene said: "What counts is that Graham was willing to risk jail for me. He knew we could never have a normal life together while he was on the run."
The court heard he was an experienced drug dealer who was arrested on February 22, 1996, under his real name Graham Smith.
The surname Quinn is an alias he adopted when he went on the run. Officers searched his flat immediately after his arrest and found £3,585 in cash, electronic weighing scales and small white plastic bags.
He told officers he sold a quarter ounce of heroin to "some bloke" every other day and he admitted to making £24,000 a year purely from drug dealing.
One former customer, now a recovering addict, said: "Smith was never violent, but he was so well connected he didn't have to be. Smithy was the local black sheep."
A DJ who knew Graham as a teenager said the arrival of rave music in Dublin - and an explosion in the drugs it brought - changed Graham's life.
He added: "He got involved in drug dealing. There was a lot of money to be made from it. When he was 19, he bought a Ford Sierra Cosworth - all the dealers in Dublin had them and there would be a line of them outside clubs on a Saturday night.
"Graham never used drugs, but he was addicted to money and he was making piles of cash from dealing. He had his own 'patch' in the city protected by his connections."
The DJ said many of Smith's friends were now in jail, dead or recovering drug addicts. He said: "Somehow Smithy escaped - going on the run to England may have saved his life."
Myleene fell for Graham after he saved the day as the Hear'Say security man. Around 7,000 fans had turned up for a signing when only 2,000 were expected. Graham swiftly called the event off because he feared for everyone's safety - and won Myleene's heart on the spot.
They were due to wed at Christmas, but the wedding had to be postponed after Myleene went into the jungle on I'm a Celeb. Now they are set to tie the knot next year.
Myleene joked that Graham was behind a plot to send her into the jungle to avoid walking down the aisle. She said: "Honestly, he'd do anything to get out of marrying me. He'll be sending me to Alaska next!"
The Sunday Mirror spoke with Graham after he arrived in Brisbane last week to support Myleene. He explained he was supposed to bring Myleene's engagement ring with him to Australia after she decided to leave it behind in London because she was afraid of losing it in the jungle.
He confessed: "She asked me to bring it out and I haven't. She's going to kill me!
"She's doing really well and I'm proud of her. She's just being herself like I told her. It doesn't matter if she wins or not. She's a winner in my eyes if she does herself justice and people like her. I am really missing her. To be able to watch her but not communicate is so hard. At least by being here I feel closer to her."
Jonathan Shalit, Myleene's agent, said: "I've known Graham for five years, he's a very decent man who has turned his life around. He gives a lot of his time to drug and children's charities."
michael.duffy@sundaymirror.co.uk
