Couple Jailed After Selling Cocaine To Pay For Luxury Holiday And Designer Clothes
A couple from Wales have been sentenced to more than two years in prison after selling cocaine to help fund expensive holidays and designer clothes.
Katie Barrington, 29, and Trenae Greenland, 30, were caught by police by chance after officers spotted them sitting in a Volkswagen Golf parked outside a block of flats.
Police saw a man approach the couple's car before leaving again, prompting them to believe a drug deal was taking place.
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Prosecutor Nigel Fryer told Newport Crown Court a large amount of cash was recovered when police investigated the vehicle, as well as three bags of white powder, a Nokia mobile phone the pair had tried to conceal in the car, and an iPhone.
Barrington and Greenland, who have been together for five years, were already earning £60,000-a-year from their day jobs before they began dealing cocaine in the evenings and on weekends.
Fryer said police analysed one of the phones and found references to how much money the duo were making by drug dealing, claiming they earned 'upwards of £100 a day on a weekday and £200 on a weekend' by selling cocaine as and when they wanted.
Searches of Greenland's address found cash and high value designer clothing, and Fryer told the court the pair had engaged in 'many conversations about future holidays, expensive holidays', adding: "Their motivation here was greed."
Kevin Seal, who was defending Greenland, claimed she and Barrington were in 'the ravages of an addiction' and alleged they sold cocaine to pay off a debt to dealers.
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Nicholas Gedge, who was defending Barrington, said of the 29-year-old: "She is an intelligent young lady. Her family and friends speak very highly of her.
"Her route into cocaine addiction is a very sensitive one. She struggled for a long time to deal with it.
"This sent her into drug debt. This is what she thought was a way out."
Both Greenland and Barrington admitted possession of cocaine with intent to supply, being concerned in the supply of cocaine, and possession of criminal property.
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Judge DJ Hale told the pair they had 'good jobs' and a 'sound future', but that they had thrown it away through 'shared greed'.
The judge continued: "If you hadn't been caught by sheer chance, you would've carried on doing this. Putting more people in debt.
"You got into this because you were in debt, but you knew how this was putting customers in debt.
"You are two young ladies of good character. Two young ladies with a future which you have thrown away."
The two women have each been jailed for two years and eight months. They also face a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing to repay the money they made from drug dealing.
Emily Brown