Manchester Crown Court Tania Curtis sentence for possession with intent to supply class A and Cocaine and heroin and ?1,000 was found in her flat
Tania Curtis, 20, hid £600 worth of heroin and crack cocaine in her mum’s bag (Picture: MEN Media)

A drug dealer hid £600-worth of heroin and crack cocaine in her mum’s handbag to try and avoid police detection.

Tania Curtis, 20, had decided to stash the metal containers full of drugs as officers searched her home in West Gorton, Manchester.

She later admitted the drugs were hers after police found hundreds of pounds of cash hidden in her bedroom.

They also discovered two mobile phones in the room, one of which Curtis had been using to supply the drugs.

Curtis was arrested and pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to supply cocaine and one count of possession with intent to supply heroin.

But Manchester Crown Court heard that she may have been under the influence of her older boyfriend, 29, who was later jailed for drug offences.

Defence lawyer John Kennerley told the court Curtis was of previous good character, adding that she was ‘only 19’ when she was arrested.

General view of Manchester Crown Court ,Minshull Street, in Manchester city centre.
She was handed a suspended sentence in court (Picture: PA Archive)

He continued: ‘There is no suggestion that she has committed any offences since.

‘The defendant lives in an area and alongside people who have proactive criminal lifestyles but wants to get away from this.

‘She wants to address her substance misuse as she has been using cannabis since the age of 13. She also suffers from anxiety and depression.’

At a previous hearing, Judge Richard Mansell QC heard evidence that Curtis had been ‘pressurised’ into selling drugs.

The judge told the court he ‘somewhat agreed’ with that description, adding that the offence might not have happened had she not been in a relationship with the older man.

Curtis, of Hayfield Close, West Gorton, was sentenced to two years detention in a young offenders institute, suspended for two years.

She was also given 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and will have to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.

The judge also made a drug rehabilitation programme a part of the sentence.

He told Curtis: ‘Given your age, hope for resolution, which I hope is genuine, your previous good character and your mental health issues, I will take the exceptional case of suspending this sentence.

‘If you think you’ve got away lightly and carry on with the lifestyle that you were following you will be going to prison for quite a long time.’

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