Dealer mistook plain-clothes copper as drug user in Wakefield city centre
A woman forced into selling drugs was caught out when she mistakenly thought a plain-clothes police officer was a customer.
Zoe Noble was found to be carrying around £500 worth of heroin and crack cocaine when the officer arrested her on Dixon’s Yard, off Kirkgate, in Wakefield.
She appeared at Leeds Crown Court this week via video link from HMP New Hall, where she was being held on remand. The 33-year-old admitted two counts of possessing Class A drugs with an intent to supply.
Prosecutor Robert Galley said Noble was spotted by the officer in the city centre on September 19, looking suspicious. He followed her to Dixon’s Yard where she turned around with something in her hand and said: “Is this for you?”
She had wraps on her and a small burner phone that contained clear messages of drug dealing. During a strip search at the police station more drugs were found.
Noble, of Ivy Grove, Wakefield, has previous convictions, but mainly for shoplifting.
No mitigation was offered by her barrister after Judge Christopher Batty said he would not lock her up, alluding to pressure she had been put under to sell drugs by others who had come into her home.
He gave her a 12-month sentence, suspended for 18 months. He also ordered her to enrol in an accredited 26-session drug programme, a 12-month drug rehabilitation requirement, 25 rehabilitation days with probation and an 18-month residence condition.
Judge Batty said: “This has a better chance of achieving something, you getting drug free and living a law-abiding life.
“Yours, in many ways, is a very sad case. This thing was brought about by those who came into your home. It does not amount to a defence but it does amount to a significant mitigation.
“This really is an opportunity to break this cycle of drug misuse and offending.”