A JURY has heard how two people accused of involvement in a county lines drugs conspiracy told police they played no part in the plot.
Carlisle-based pair Daniel Brennan, 32, and Sharnee Dawkins, 29, are on trial at the city’s crown court along with 19-year-old James Bailey, of Skelmersdale.
All deny a charge which alleges conspiracy to supply class A drugs between June and November last year.
A jury has heard that 13 other people – nine from Cumbria and four from Liverpool – admit that charge. This arises out of a police investigation into a “major” plot to bring crack cocaine and heroin from the Merseyside area to Cumbria, for distribution to addicts.
Mobile phones played a “key role”. It is alleged Brennan, of Woodside North, sent out “text bombs” advertising drugs for sale; and further alleged that Dawkins allowed her rented Crummock Street to be used by a gang member for the storage, packing and dealing of drugs.
Today (FRI) jurors heard transcripts of interviews Brennan and Dawkins gave to police.
Brennan told officers he was “100 per cent” not linked to substances and weighing scales recovered from a car in which he had travelled. And, when asked whether any phone evidence would suggest conspiracy involvement, he replied: “No.”
Dawkins told police she knew nothing about class A drugs and scales found in a bread bag inside her home, nor packaging recovered from a bin.
“I didn’t know they were there,” Dawkins said. “All I know is that there’s been a couple of people in my house today and someone’s left it there, and it’s nothing to do with me.”
The trial continues.