Sentence sends warning to drug dealers (From Ledbury Reporter)

Sentence sends warning to drug dealers

10:27am Friday 10th July 2009

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A CLEAR warning was sent to those considering dealing heroin when a 24- year-old Ledbury woman was jailed this week.

Karen Ellis, from Oatleys Crescent, pleaded guilty to three charges of supplying the class A drug after being arrested on October 3.

You don’t have to be a big dealer to get a long prison sentence.

DC Jamie Bullock

A search of her property discovered money and the drug in powdered form.

Ellis, who was in full-time employment when she was arrested, was sentenced to 21 months in jail when she appeared at Hereford Crown Court on Monday, July 6.

The court was told that, in a police interview, she admitted supplying heroin to users in Ledbury and organised the collection of cash to buy larger amounts of heroin from Gloucester and Birmingham.

Detective Constable Jamie Bullock from Hereford CID said: “The action taken by police and the prison sentence imposed by the judge at Hereford Crown Court should send a clear message to people who may be tempted into supplying class A drugs like heroin to think twice. You don’t have to be a big dealer to get a long prison sentence.”

Michael Hainge, vice chairman for the Safer Herefordshire partnership, which tackles drug issues, said: “Herefordshire is a low-crime county and we’re working together to ensure it remains so.

“Police action and enforcement forms one part of tackling drug misuse, but we also work towards education, prevention and treatment.

“I would like to praise West Mercia Police for their hard work on this and other matters and we are privileged to work in such close conjunction with them on a daily basis.”

Anyone with information about drug dealing in Herefordshire is urged to pass the information to Hereford CID on 0300 333 3000 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

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