A YOUNG mum who received threats over a drugs debt was forced into dealing cocaine by her supplier, it was claimed yesterday.
A court heard that when she was caught in possession of cocaine with an estimated street value of £20,000, the dealer said she was responsible for that loss too. So she continued to supply the drug while on bail.
Mold Crown Court, sitting at Chester, heard how Ellen Marie Davies, 29, was then caught a second time.
Davies, of High Street, Cefn Mawr, Wrexham, was jailed for three years after she pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine with intent to supply on March 3 last year.
She also admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply – and supplying the drug – in November.
Judge Philip Hughes said she was initially found to have cocaine with an estimated value of £20,000.
Then, while on bai,l more cocaine to a value of some £2,000 was found.
He said she would be sentenced on the basis of her pleas – that she only agreed to supply on behalf of her dealer when she became frightened for the safety of herself and of her five-year-old son. She had not made a financial gain herself from supply.
Defending barrister Phillip Tully told how Davies was a drug user and had built up a debt with her supplier.
She was unable to fund her addiction and unable to pay the debt and she was told to work off her debt by supplying drugs on his behalf. “She felt that she had no way out,” Mr Tully explained.
Davies had been threatened with violence and held responsible for the value of the drugs which the police had seized in March. That was why she had been found committing further offences while on bail in March.
“She felt that she had to carry on dealing after her initial arrest because she became frightened for her safety and that of her five-year-old son. My client accepts she has behaved stupidly but at the time felt that she had no option,” he said.
Davies had been on various courses while on remand and planned to be drug free on her release.
The court heard how police executed a search warrant at her flat in Cefn Mawr High Street in March 2011.
Emmalyne Downing, prosecuting, said Davies was detained outside and found to have drugs. She became agitated and struggled and threw a bag of cocaine over a wall. She also tried to hand over some money to another man. Further cocaine was found in her flat and the total estimated street value was £20,000.
Interviewed, she said she had been set up and had been asked to carry some drugs down the road when she was arrested. In November police attended to execute a second search warrant and on arrival found Davies near the open door of a car supplying cannabis to a young woman.