Cocaine buyer nabbed by cops staking out dealer's flat

Alice Mary Hose, 27, of Kirtin Close, Meden Vale, admitted buying the drug from a complex of flats in the early hours of December 21 last year.

The court heard she had bought two bags for £40 and had been given a third as ‘a Christmas goodwill gesture’, said Sarah Neale, mitigating.

But when police moved to arrest her after the buy, she ‘panicked’ and threw the drugs away. The officers had intelligence that drugs were being dealt from one of the flats.

Sanjay Jervath, prosecuting, told the court Hose had been using heroin for 11 years and had eight convictions for 11 offences, but this was the first for drugs. She was given a community order in 2014 for handling stolen goods.

Miss Neale said: “Albeit she has a history of drugs problems, she has a drug worker. Things seem more stable.

“Unfortunately in the run-up to Christmas her father kicked her out of the home address.”

The court heard she had previously worked in retail and in a chip shop.

Magistrates fined her £40 and ordered her to pay costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £20.