Three people involved in a county lines drug supply plot which saw heroin trafficked from Merseyside to north Cumbria have been given prison sentences by a judge.
Carlisle Crown Court heard how the criminal conspiracy was blown apart after 38-year-old David Ball — the Liverpool end of the illegal enterprise — was arrested at the border city’s Court Square railway station on April 19 last year.
“He was asked if he could be X-rayed to see if there was concealment (of drugs),” said prosecutor Tim Evans. “He initially agreed but then withdrew his consent. Ultimately two ounces of heroin were recovered from his anus.”
As police investigated, phones were seized, analysed, and showed the conspiracy also involved Christopher Cook, 33, and 57-year-old Fiona Barnard.
Ball — known by the nicknames of Sam or Sammy — made seven trips from Merseyside to Carlisle, those visits coinciding with Cook then sending out multiple text bombs to scores of recipients advertising illegal wares for sale. “Got that strong in again ppl,” read one. Others stated “bk on” and also “up n about”.
Both Ball and Cook — the Carlisle sales end of the plot — were offered accommodation firstly by Deborah Hunt, 63, and then by Barnard, who transferred cash to Ball.
All were brought to justice after detectives picked through messages between the co-conspirators, whose offending was committed between early January and late April, 2022.
Ball, of Aylton Road, Liverpool; Cook, of Briar Bank; and Barnard, of Seatoller Close, both Carlisle, all admitted conspiracy to supply heroin.
Barnard was also sentenced for illegal activity in mid-2020 which pre-dated the main conspiracy. Supply level quantiles of heroin, crack cocaine and amphetamine potentially worth almost £20,000 were recovered from the home of Barnard, who falsely claimed the drugs were for her own personal use.
Ball was jailed for 44 months and Barnard for 42 months by Judge Nicholas Barker.
Hunt, of Weardale Road, Carlisle, admitted allowing her premises to be used for drugs supply in March, 2022. Her eight-month jail term was suspended for 18 months and she must observe a four-month night time curfew.
Referring to the modest sums of heroin involved in the case, Judge Barker said: “This was not the most serious of county lines operations but that does not mean it is insignificant.”
- Cook failed to attend the sentencing hearing, prompting the judge to issue a warrant for his arrest. Punishment was postponed in his case.
