Cocky Leeds crack-addict who told police 'I won't get charged' is given jail

Karen Mullaney, 36, also boasted that she was “buzzing” when she was arrested and joked that she “must be slipping” that she did not see the officers approach her home on Brompton Terrace.

Leeds Crown Court heard that the officers moved to raid the mid-terrace property at around 5.30pm on March 3. A second defendant, Charlotte Atkinson, was stood in the doorway and closed the door’s outer gate when she spotted the police. Others in the house then tried to push against the door to prevent the officers gaining entry.

Having forced their way in, they found 38-year-old Atkinson to have 50 £5 wraps of crack cocaine on her. They also found another 48 wraps in the living room, three wraps of heroin, along with a tick list, £423 in cash, scales, a meat cleaver and a knife.

Atkinson, of Rocheford Close, Hunslet, told officers during her police interview she was there as a customer and had bought in bulk to receive a discount. She said the drugs were for her boyfriend. Mullaney gave a no comment interview. Both were then held on remand. No charges were brought for the other three people in the property at the time of the raid.

Both Mullaney and Atkinson admitted being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine, with Mullaney facing the additional charge of being concerned in the supply of heroin. Mullaney has six previous convictions for nine offences, and despite having no drug-related convictions, has served a 14-month sentence for GBH. Atkinson has no previous convictions.

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Mitigating for mother-of-three Atkinson, Mark Foley said she had spent five weeks on remand before being granted bail and maintained her stance about the drugs being for her boyfriend. He said that that boyfriend was no longer in her life and due to her time in prison, the father of her children was now helping out.

A pre-sentence report into Mullaney suggested her home was being used for the sale of drugs, for which she received crack cocaine but no financial reward. Mitigating on her behalf, Michael Walsh said she only blamed herself for allowing her home to be used.

He claimed that her comment about her “buzzing” was because the drug-selling operation would finally now come to an end, but the judge clearly remained sceptical.

Recorder Daffyd Enoch KC jailed Mullaney for two years and told her: “I’m sure there’s more to it than meets the eye. This was your house and it was being used to street deal. It was clear what was going on, you knew what was going on. You admitted you were watching for the police.”

He gave Atkinson an eight-month sentence, suspended for two years and told her complete 20 rehabilitation days. In regard to her claim about buying in bulk for her boyfriend, he told her: “On the face of it, it sounds nonsense, but I have listened with care. There seems to be ambiguity of you were a customer or a dealer, but I can’t be sure you were part of the dealing set up.”