Disabled mother jailed for role in drug supply

A WHEELCHAIR-BOUND mother has been jailed for more than three years for selling cocaine from her house in Paignton.

Debra Wonnacott, 41, was providing addicts with the drug from her address in Roundham Road.

A Judge at Exeter Crown Court said she was a 'significant' player in the supply chain and was doing it for her own financial gain.

"She was running her own show in her own shop," said Judge Francis Gilbert QC before sending her to prison for three years and nine months.

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Police carried out a raid at her address in May last year after two people were seen buying the class A drug at the house.

They found 27 grams of cocaine and a small amount of cannabis in the house, together with £580 in cash and scales.

The court was told that she initially denied being a supplier saying she was simply keeping the drugs for others or had been set up.

But on the day of her trial she pleaded guilty to all five counts of possessing cocaine with intent to supply, supplying cocaine, possessing cannabis resin and possessing criminal property.

The cocaine had a street value of £1,250.

Wonnacott had a history of drug supply offences going back to 1997 when she was caught with amphetamine and ecstasy in a nightclub in Torquay.

William Parkhill, in mitigation, said Wonnacott had sold other peoples drugs to ease her financial problems.

He said she was a 'happy-go-lucky and straightforward lady' who would cope with prison despite her 'mobility problems' but worried about her family.

Judge Gilbert said: "The truth is you were retailing cocaine from your house for profit. Whether someone else got the profit is not clear and it is difficult to conclude because of the interviews you gave.

"You said you were holding it for somebody else but the truth is you were selling it to users who could buy it and retailing it on a commercial scale. You were well aware of the risk you ran.

"In my judgement your role was significant.

"I do bear in mind your disability but you knew what you were doing it and you were doing it for profit."