DRUG DEALER JAILED TO STOP HER ENDING UP ‘ON THE STREETS’

No emergency housing to keep 42-year-old out of prison

SIXTY people are on a waiting list for emergency accommodation in Stoke-on-trent.

The situation was revealed during the court case of drug user Emma Arnold who was part of a plot to supply class A drugs.

The Sentinel reported last week how the other defendants in the conspiracy had been sentenced but Arnold’s case was adjourned by Judge David Fletcher to see if any emergency accommodation could be found for the defendant to give him the option of suspending her sentence.

But because of the waiting list, none is currently available, so Arnold was jailed for two years at Stoke-on-trent Crown Court.

The 42-year-old – who has 58 previous offences on her record – was involved in supplying heroin and crack cocaine.

Prosecutor Robert Smith said the conspiracy spanned from September 1, 2018 to May 15, 2019.

Mr Smith said: “The police took action at various addresses and made significant seizures of heroin and crack cocaine.

“The prosecution’s case is Joseph Barrett (aged 28, of Stanfield) played a leading role and all the other defendants were working for him, including this defendant.”

On January 3, 2019 police saw Arnold and another defendant walk towards a rear alleyway in Sandbach Road, Cobridge.

She was later seen in a park taking cash from a member of the public who approached her.

Arnold told police she was a heroin user with a £20-a-day habit.

Mr Smith added: “The prosecution say she acted as a street dealer in the context of a wider conspiracy.”

Arnold, of Waterloo Road, Hanley, pleaded guilty to two charges of conspiracy to supply of a class A drug.

Debbie Leadbeater, mitigating, said the defendant was under the direction of other people in the group.

She said: “She was vulnerable and easily exploited.

“She has managed to get her drug use down.”

Miss Leadbeater argued it was possible for the sentence to be suspended.

Judge Fletcher told Arnold: “The fact is there is no accommodation. You would be sofa surfing, at best, or you might be on the street at this cold time of year.

“Mr Barrett was at the top of the pyramid. He was the principal offender and received a lengthy custodial sentence.

“You were dependent on class A drugs. There has been an ongoing tussle between you and the drugs you are addicted to.

“When you were committing these offences you were assisting in the dealing of these drugs. It was for your own habit. That dependence has in recent years ruined your life. You have nowhere to go.

“I hope at the age of 42 you start to think a little bit more positively about your life. Think about prolonging your life.

“I know taking these drugs just make you feel normal as opposed to giving you the highs it did in the early days.

“If you come out of prison and start to behave in the same way that you were prior to going into custody, all the probation service will do is return you to custody.

“Try and sort things out. Work with people in prison. Try to make the best of your life when released.”