Cocaine courier stopped in Bradford jailed for 6 years

Mother of two, Caroline Pearson, had picked up the kilo of high purity cocaine from Bradford man Mohammed Arshad and was on her way to Wales with it when drugs squad officers, who had under surveillance, swooped.

Pearson, 48, was driving a black Vauxhall Astra along the A650 Bradford and Shipley Road at 11.20am on September 11 last year when she was stopped by a marked police patrol car.

She had been under observation while collecting the cocaine from Arshad’s address in Cliffe Road, Undercliffe, shortly beforehand.

Arshad, 49, has pleaded guilty to supplying a kilo of cocaine to Pearson and will be sentenced on March 12.

Pearson, of Starthe Bank, Heanor, Derbyshire, denied possession of the drug with intent to supply and was convicted by a jury at Bradford Crown Court today.

Prosecutor Stephen Wood QC said Arshad was seen to open the front door of the Astra and put a package on the front seat.

Pearson was the sole occupant of the car, the court heard.

The package contained a kilo of cocaine of 90% purity. If sold in one gram deals, it had a potential street value of £100,000.

Mr Wood said Pearson was a courier, transporting drugs from one part of the country to another. As a lone woman, she was less likely to create suspicion.

The court heard it was her second conviction for possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply.

In 2004, she was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court for possession with intent to supply MDMA, or ecstasy, cannabis and amphetamine.

Pearson’s barrister, Robin Frieze, said: “She was not enjoying the trappings of the lucrative proceeds of this kind of operation.”

She was addicted to amphetamine and paying of a substantial debt to fuel her habit.

Pearson’s family had health difficulties and she helped to care for her grandchildren and poorly parents.

Judge Jonathan Rose told Pearson: “This jury has seen through the tissue of lies that you attempted to spin to them about your involvement in trafficking drugs.”

The fact that Pearson was transporting £100,000 of cocaine showed that she was a trusted courier.

“You were close to those who were directing you in this operation,” Judge Rose said.

He commended the actions of the police who stopped the consignment of high purity cocaine reaching Wales.

He warned Pearson this was her second conviction for trafficking Class A drugs.

A third offence would attract a minimum seven-year jail sentence.

Judge Rose banned her from driving for six years and three months and made a deprivation order to confiscate her car.

Detective Inspector Lee Fletcher, from the Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: “We regularly see the harm that drugs cause both to individual users and to our communities and the associated crime they bring to ordinary people’s lives.

“We hope the significant prison sentence Pearson received today will serve to reassure the community that we do and will continue to target those involved in drugs.

“I also hope it will provide some reassurance to the community and illustrate our ongoing commitment to targeting those who think they can profit from the destructive trade in drugs.”