Shropshire Star

Jailed: Dealer dumped 1.5kg of Mamba in Shrewsbury ditch

A woman who dumped more than a kilogram-and-a-half of drugs in a Shrewsbury ditch has been jailed for three years.

Published
Demi Jennings was locked up for dumping drugs in Shrewsbury

Demi Jennings, aged 23, was also sentenced for being abusive and aggressive to a supervisor on an unpaid work assignment.

She had been given the unpaid work order for her part in gang violence in Sundorne three years ago, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard on Friday.

Police tracked Jennings to her home in Market Drayton after finding her fingerprints on a bag containing the synthetic cannabinoid Mamba, handed in by a member of the public.

The passer-by found the bag on a grass verge in Sundorne on September 2 last year and thought the drugs inside were grass cuttings, said prosecuting barrister Simon Parry.

She intended to put them in the compost before her daughter noticed them and realised what they were.

Mr Parry said the bag contained three smaller bags, one of which contained 1.42kg of drugs, another with 167g and one with 6.48g. The street value came to about £1,600.

Breach

Initially Jennings, of Great Hales Street, pleaded not guilty to possession of a class B drug with intent to supply, but changed her plea to guilty last month.

Also last month, Jennings had a disagreement with the supervisor of unpaid work she was doing as part of her court order.

Mr Parry told the court Jennings became angry and swore at the man repeatedly.

“The work supervisor felt vulnerable for his safety and that is someone who’s done that work for 14 years, and is well-equipped for that sort of behaviour,” said Mr Parry.

Jennings’ drug offence meant she breached a suspended sentence she had been given in 2017 for possessing cocaine with intent to supply.

The judge had then given her a two-year sentence, suspended for two years.

On Friday, Jennings was given 19 months in jail for the possession offence, and Judge Jonathan Gosling also activated her suspended sentence, though he reduced it to 15 months.

For the breach itself he added another two months, taking her total prison sentence to three years.

Representing Jennings, Stephen Scully said she had had a troubled upbringing and suffered with mental health issues.

He said as her probation officers changed often there was no continuity and she felt her issues weren’t properly understood.

Judge Gosling read reports from Jennings and her family members.

He told her: "I'm not going to lock you up for a very, very long time and I hope there's some hope for you upon your release.

"There is a lot of good in you. You have had a very difficult young life, not of your own making."

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