OAP heroin-dealer faces jail sentence

WOMAN, 62, SUPPLIED DRUGS FROM FLAT

A 62-YEAR-OLD faces jail for using her home to sell heroin.

Elizabeth Hunter peddled the Class A drug to friends and strangers alike.

But a court heard that was brought to a halt when police executed a warrant in June and uncovered her stash.

The pensioner has been told she faces a minimum of a year behind bars when she’s sentenced on December 4.

The dealer pleaded guilty to both possessing and supplying the drug.

“She admitted to officers she had been dealing for a number of months,” said prosecutors at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court.

“She supplied it to a number of different people – some friends, some people who came to her home just to purchase it.”

The court heard Hunter, previously of Ravensworth Road in Gateshead, was “fairly entrenched” in drugs.

She has similar convictions stemming back to 1997.

A pre-sentence probation report will be carried out prior to her sentencing at Newcastle Crown Court.

The case was passed up after the magistrates’ court’s sentencing powers – which include a maximum of six months in prison – were deemed insufficient.

Hunter, who was supported by a male in court, was granted unconditional bail.