Class 'A' drug found in woman's handbag

Published on 10th May 2007 in News

A young Howden woman who was found to have cocaine in her handbag has been ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work.

Amanda Midgley (20), of St John's Street, appeared in Goole Magistrates' Court on Friday morning charged with possession of a controlled drug and failing to provide a specimen, and pleaded guilty to both offences.

Jeremy Evans, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said that Miss Midgley has been spotted sitting in a car in the Tesco car park on Boothferry Road in the early hours of August 12 last year.

Officers smelt alcohol on her breath, and took her to Goole Police Station.

There, Mr Evans said, she refused to provide a breath specimen.

While at the police station, officers searched her handbag and found a small amount of cocaine in a small plastic pouch.

"We're dealing with a tiny amount of a Class A drug - cocaine," said Mr Evans.

The cocaine weighed 809 mcg, equivalent to a 'wrap'.

During a police interview, Miss Midgley said she had taken drugs in the past but was not taking them at the time. She told police she did not know how they had come to be in her bag.

However, when asked what was in her bag, she identified it as cocaine.

Defending, Ben Hibbert said Miss Midgley had not refused to give a test but had been unable to give a sample, probably because of the amount of alcohol she had drunk.

It was also pointed out that she not been driving at the time and indeed the car was not drivable.

"It's a very small amount of cocaine, less than a gram," said Mr Hibbert.

The court also heard that Miss Midgley had invited the police to take a sample of blood so she could prove she had not been taking drugs.

Sentencing her, magistrates said they had taken into consideration her guilty plea but felt that the seriousness of the offence warranted a community order.

She was ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work for each offence, which will run concurrently.

For failing to provide a specimen, she was disqualified from driving for 12 months.

Magistrates also ordered her to pay £55 in court costs, and that the cocaine be confiscated and destroyed.