Wakefield drug dealer’s children wrote heartfelt letters to judge to keep mum out of prison

Recorder Keir Monteith KC said he was “moved” by the correspondence of her two grown-up children to help keep Stefanie Price out of prison after she was caught with amphetamine and phenazepam, an anxiety drug, at The Griffin on Union Street.

He told her: “You should not have to rely on your children to write such powerful letters.

"They were very moving. Judges do not often get moved, but this one was.”

Leeds Crown Court heard that the mother-of-three had been thrown out of the pub by staff for drug dealing on February 14, 2020 and the police were called.

On her they found 10.45 grammes of amphetamine worth £104, and 50 phenazepam tablets worth £25. She confessed there was more at her home on Dalefield Road in Normanton.

During a search of the property they found another 441 tablets worth £220.

In her interview with police, she said she had agreed to buy the amphetamine to share with a friend, which she picked up in the Brunswick Street area of the city, but would sell the tablets for £1 each.

She initially denied possession with an intent to supply the Class B amphetamine and Class C phenazepam, but changed her plea before she was due to stand trial.

She has 12 existing convictions for 23 offences, including two drug offences.

A probation report said she had since sought help for her drug use through the Wakefield talking therapies service, Turning Point, and now only takes cannabis.

No mitigation was offered on her behalf after Recorder Monteith said he would not lock her up. Instead, he gave her a 12-month community order and 10 rehabilitation days.

He told her: “This is serious, it really is. You should not, at 45-years-old, be coming to court to be sentenced for possession with intent to supply drugs.

"This is the last time you meet with anybody like me. Complete this order and give back to society please.

"You say you’re never going back to that lifestyle again. You have made very good progress.”