Drugs 'factory' women jailed

When police raided their rented home in Station Road, Catcliffe, they found one kilogramme of heroin, mixing agents and drug paraphernalia.

The heroin was either in blocks or powder form with a purity ranging from 60 per cent to ten per cent and could have been worth up to £107,000 on the streets.

Sarah Cooper (36) and Janet Small (44), both admitted possessing heroin with intent to supply.

Cooper also admitted possessing a small amount of amphetamines, which were found in her bra at the police station when she was arrested.

Officers executed a search warrant on March 26 last year at the house, which was rented by Small.

Only Cooper was in at the time and the police found bags and wraps of heroin in a cupboard in the main bedroom, along with a mixing bowl.

Small then turned up and told officers she had a heroin problem and did not know how much of the drug was in the house.

A search uncovered “substantial” amounts of heroin and mixing agents, said Miss Clare Walsh, prosecuting.

Wraps of heroin had been professionally packaged and there was a press, scales, jars and mixing equipment, as well as various mobile phones.

Drug squad experts said the heroin could have been worth from £37,500 to £107,000 depending on how it was sold. 

“It could have been worth even more if it was cut to the lowest purity level,” said Miss Walsh.

“They had a significant role performing an operation within a chain.”

Ms Hannah Walker, for Cooper, said the mastermind of the drug operation had never been caught.

Cooper had led a hard-working life as a call centre worker and shop assistant but when her mother died in 2013 she was left homeless and went “sofa surfing”, she said.

She had been offered a place to stay by Small and had not made any money out of the drug operation, said Ms Walker.

Cooper was not a heroin user but had an amphetamine addiction which she used on a daily basis. 

She had recently got engaged and her boyfriend was in court to support her.

Mr Dermot Hughes, for Small, said the sentencing had been hanging over her for more than a year and she had turned her back on the drugs world.

She had a daughter when she was just 15 and later had a son but her relationship broke down in 2011, he said.

Small had been introduced to heroin by her best friend as a way of alleviating depression, the court heard.

The judge Recorder Duncan Smith told the women: “I have heard two tragic accounts of the declining fortunes of two otherwise respectable women by circumstances outside their control.”

He said they had been involved at a “relatively low level” but drugs “ruined lives” and the trade in heroin was a “vile trade” with those at the top making a lot of money which was facilitated by people like the defendants.

“My public duty is to send a message out loud and clear that those who trade in heroin will go to prison regardless of the circumstances,” he said.

Cooper and Small will serve half of their sentence with the rest on licence. Cooper was also given a three-month jail term to run concurrently for possessing amphetamines.