Story by Adam Everett & Simon Hamalienko
A mum’s £60-a-day drug dealing job saw her jailed after she was nabbed with hundreds of pounds worth of crack cocaine.
A judge told Kellie Howarth yesterday that it “gave him no pleasure” to put her behind bars after she openly admitted that she was “doing it to make money”.
Liverpool Crown Court heard on Thursday afternoon (August 6) that police spotted a group involved in a suspected drugs deal on August 25 last year, with the 45-year-old defendant having tucked her hands behind her back and dropped two bags of crack cocaine upon being approached by officers.
Further illegal substances were subsequently found on her person, with a search of her home revealing mobile phones, tick lists and a stash of sandwich bags.
Liverpool Crown Court© Liverpool Echo
Hannah Darling, prosecuting, detailed how 2.08g of crack cocaine with a street value of £270 was seized from Howarth, of Gradwell Street in Liverpool city centre, in total.
Under questioning, she confessed that she was “making £60-a-day” from her involvement and was “doing it to make money”, having “got into drugs to keep her mind off issues” relating to her ex-partner.
Howarth has four previous convictions for five offences, but none for drug trafficking offences, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Peter White, defending, told the court: “This is lady who has had a chronic drug addiction for the majority of her life.
“There are numerous traumatic events that she has struggled to deal with, including the death of her parents and breakdown of her relationship. Unfortunately, she sought solace in drug use.”
“She appears to be a very friendly, polite, normal person who has clearly managed to mask a crippling drug addiction. Her record is strange. It is not littered with acquisitive offences. She is not back and forth before the courts
“She has had a month in HMP Styal. She has a 12-year-old daughter and two other children who are adults. She wants to be there for her daughter and wants to be part of her life. She is motivated to stay clean because, quite simply, she has had a month where she has been forced to clean up.”
Howarth pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply and failing to surrender to bail, having missed an earlier court appearance on July 8.
Appearing via video link to HMP Styal wearing a white Yves Saint Lauren t-shirt and clutching a vape, she was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
In his sentencing remarks, Judge Garrett Byrne said: “There is some limited remorse. It is clear that you are entrenched in a drug lifestyle, but you have a young daughter. I am going to reduce the sentence so that you can see her properly sooner rather than later.
“You readily admit yourself that you have spent years in rehab but relapse as soon as you leave. It gives me no pleasure, but it will have to be an immediate term of imprisonment.”
