Woman had wraps of cocaine and heroin in 'knickers' for drug line sale

She revealed she was in possession of the substances after police officers caught her and a co-defendant drug dealer red-handed in Warrington.

Alice Chatten and Johnathan Gibbons appeared before Liverpool Crown Court to be sentenced yesterday, Monday, with the latter appearing via video link from HM Prison Berwyn in Wrexham

But they were each handed suspended jail terms – despite a judge telling them that ‘drugs destroy lives’.

The court heard how Cheshire Police had identified the ‘Beeb Line’, a county lines supply line running class A drugs between Liverpool and Warrington on a daily basis.

Gibbons had two phones which were in regular contact with a graft phone based in Liverpool, which was sending flare messages advertising drugs for sale, explained Andrew McInnes, prosecuting.

When someone responded, Gibbons, who officers believe had been dealing drugs since March 27, would be informed by someone higher in the chain and directed to conduct a street deal.

On one occasion, on March 27, Gibbons was contacted 40 times by the graft phone, showing the scale of the drug supply line.

At around 10.30am on April 17, officers investigating the supply line were on plain-clothed patrol on Hilden Road in Padgate.

They observed both Gibbons and Chatten leaving the former’s Jurby Court home and walking towards the nearby Spar convenience store.

Chatten, of Alder Lane in Orford, was seen passing something to Gibbons, and they walked up a hill and out of view, to ‘an area where class A drugs are regularly supplied’.

Gibbons was seen with men who the court heard ‘appeared to be class A drug users’, before returning with Chatten to his nearby home.

Officers decided to conduct a drugs search on the two defendants at 11.10am when they reappeared, leading to both being arrested.

Chatten admitted to officers that she had class A drugs in her underwear, and after being taken to Runcorn Custody Suite, the 37-year-old produced 39 wraps containing brown and white powder.

Of these, 28 were crack cocaine and 11 were heroin, each being £10 street deals worth a total of £390, with a further two wraps of cocaine recovered from her jacket pocket and £30 in cash.

A search was also carried out at Gibbons’ Padgate home, which found the 36-year-old’s drug paraphernalia, two mobile phones and £735 in cash.

Both defendants answered ‘no comment’ to questions put to them during their police interview.

The pair were sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court

Gibbons was later charged with being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin, in Warrington between March 27 and April 17 this year, as well as possessing cannabis, with the defendant admitting his guilt at the first appearance before the magistrates’ court.

Chatten meanwhile, who was charged with possession with intent to supply crack cocaine and heroin on a single day on April 17 this year, initially denied the offences, but she then entered guilty pleas on the day of her trial.

It was said that Gibbons’ case had elements of him playing both a lesser and a significant role, performing an operational function over a period of time and working under the direction of others, albeit with an element of pressure.

The court heard how Gibbons has one previous conviction for unrelated offences in 2023, while Chatten has one for possessing a class A drug in 2018 and another for drug driving in 2021.

Both defendants pleaded guilty on a basis, with Gibbons stating that he is a long-standing drug user and has been addicted to class A drugs for approximately two years.

He claimed that he had fallen into debt with his drug supplier and could not afford to pay in time, leading to threats being made towards him and his mother.

Due to the supplier claiming to know where his mother lived, Gibbons stated that he became a low-level drug dealer to pay off the debt.

Chatten meanwhile claimed that she is also addicted to drugs and was looking to buy them on the day she was arrested.

She said she was put in contact with Gibbons and agreed to store drugs in her knickers for him in exchange for deals to fuel her own habit.

She claimed she was vulnerable at the time of the incident and was fearful.

Having addressed Carmel Wilde, defending Chatten, and Jim Smith, defending Gibbons, judge Simon Medland stated: “As you both know, drugs destroy lives.”

But he concluded: “The case does cross the custody threshold, but with guilty pleas I am going to suspend the sentences.”

Both were handed a sentence of two years in prison, but this was suspended for two years.

During this time, Chatten must complete 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days, including the Better Solutions programme, and 150 hours of unpaid work.

Gibbons meanwhile was also handed a 12-month mental health treatment requirement and 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

Orders were approved for the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs and paraphernalia, and for the £755 seized in cash to be donated to the court’s nominated charity of the month, Tomorrow’s Women.