TWO people caught in Stratford with street deals of heroin and crack cocaine worth £1,000 have been jailed after blaming each other for the drugs.
Simone Hall and Simeon Walker had both pleaded not guilty to possessing the two class A drugs with intent to supply them – but were convicted by a jury at Warwick Crown Court.
Hall (33) of Gisborne Close, Small Heath, Birmingham, and Walker (35) of Kent Street, Walsall, were both jailed for four years and two months.
In July 2017, the police stopped a car being driven by Walker in Stratford, with Hall in the front passenger seat.
They were suspected of having been involved in selling drugs in the town – and when Hall was searched, officers found a package containing £1,000 worth of heroin and crack cocaine.
Hall also had some cannabis she admitted possessing for her own use, and in the car the police found a ‘burner phone’ on which there were messages relating to drug-dealing.
And prosecutor Richard McConaghy said the prosecution case was that Hall and Walker were working together selling the heroin and crack to users in Stratford.
But Walker said he had driven Hall to Stratford and did not know she had drugs on her.
And for her part, Hall claimed she was not involved in dealing and that as they were being stopped by the police Walker had passed her the package and told her to ‘plug it.’
But rather than try to conceal it intimately, she had put it inside her bra.
After the jury returned its unanimous verdicts, the court heard that Hall had previous convictions which included producing cannabis in 2013 and possessing cannabis in 2019.
Walker had convictions for assaults, motoring offences, robbery and attempted robbery – but had not been in trouble since 2008 until his arrest in Stratford.
Devon Small, for Hall, said the offences went back to 2017 when she was dependent on the use of cannabis.
He added: “She now obviously regrets her involvement in this. She knows there will be a substantial period of custody today.”
Judge Andrew Lockhart QC acknowledged there had been a series of delays.
Tariq Shakoor, for Walker, said he was a father of two and had since turned his life around from the sort of offences he had committed in the past.
Judge Lockhart said Class A drugs caused ‘untold misery’ in communities.
He added: “One user was short of money and suddenly came into money. The overwhelming likelihood is that users of these drugs are committing crimes in the community to fund their habits.
He described how they had acquired the dealing phone and £1,000 worth of class A drugs, and set out to Stratford to deal them.
He added: “I am sure that if you had not been stopped, you would have carried on dealing.
“Neither of you has told the truth in the witness box. I reject any plea that one of you was involved any more than the other. This was a joint enterprise.”
