Drug dealer’s girlfriend who worked in Lidl gave game away by f launting lifestyle online
A LIDL checkout assistant who used her drug dealer boyfriend’s wealth to fund a luxury lifestyle was caught after posting pictures of her five-star holidays and Rolex watches online.
Emily Lock, 22, lived the high life on trips to Dubai, Paris, Miami and Las Vegas, despite earning just £10,000 a year at the supermarket.
She achieved three A-grades at A-level and hoped to gain a law and criminology degree to become a probation officer.
But a court heard she developed a fixation with the lifestyle of reality TV star Kim Kardashian after she started dating cocaine dealer Mark Price, 27. A neighbour said: ‘She was working at Lidl but started to look like a celebrity. It didn’t add up.’
The pair, from Caerphilly, South Wales, made up to £1,600 a week from Price’s drug deals and had six luxury holidays in 2016.
Lock bragged about their trips on Instagram, where she posted pictures of her posing in designer clothes and accessories.
One showed her sitting in a Ferrari, while in another she wore Versace slippers.
Price, who claimed to be a struggling builder, bought a £40,000 Audi RS4, while Lock owned Vivienne Westwood handbags, Gucci sunglasses, Louboutin shoes, Christian Dior perfume and Rolexes.
Prosecutor Roger Griffiths told Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court: ‘She posted pictures of herself living the high life. Her real salary was far removed from this kind of extravagant lifestyle.’
After being alerted to Lock’s Instagram account, police raided the couple’s home, where they discovered jewellery and designer goods worth £50,000 and a receipt for Price’s Audi.
They found a blue plastic bag containing 110g of cocaine, and seized Price’s phone, which contained a message to co-defendant Kyle Crowley in which he boasted of making up to £1,600 weekly from drug deals.
Price and Lock were about to go on a five-star holiday to Thailand when police arrested them last September. Lock told them she had no idea Price was a cocaine dealer. But on Monday, she pleaded guilty to acquiring criminal property and sobbed as she was jailed for 15 months.
It was a dramatic fall for a former top pupil at Cwm Rhymni, a Welsh-language high school in Fleur-de-Lys, a village near Caerphilly. She had high hopes but quit Cardiff University after meeting Price.
Sentencing her, Judge Tom Crowther QC said: ‘When police went to your home they found a large quantity of Rolex watches along with clothing and shoes from aspirational brands.
‘You could not resist flaunting your extravagant lifestyle on social media. You were dripping in clothes that could only be dreamed of by most people.’
He said Lock had benefitted by about £50,000, adding: ‘Your teachers, family and friends struggle to reconcile what they know of you and what you did.
‘You spent conspicuously and self-indulgently in full knowledge of how your partner was making money – your lifestyle was funded by a drug dealer.’
Price was jailed for seven years for fraud and possession with intent to supply cocaine.
Andrew Taylor, defending Lock, said: ‘She is devastated. She has been incredibly naive and has lost everything.’
Crowley, 28, was jailed for five years after admitting supplying cocaine and producing cannabis. His partner, Dionne Thomas, 25, admitted acquiring criminal property and was given 120 hours’ unpaid work.
A fifth defendant, Christopher Morgan, 30, was jailed for 20 months after pleading guilty to growing cannabis with intent to supply. All five are from the Caerphilly area.
‘You spent conspicuously’