Drug mule gran rumbled as police stop taxi to find £2k of crack and heroin in handbag

A grandmother who used to work for a posh department store has been jailed for more than two years for her involvement with a county lines operation that trafficked crack and heroin.

Gran-of-four Lorraine O’Neil, from Hull, East Yorkshire, was caught with nearly £2000 worth of drugs in her handbag after she was stopped by police while travelling in a taxi on her way home from a meeting with drug dealers in Bradford, reports HullLive.

Lorraine, aged 56, was trusted to ferry drugs and money across the country, and was allowed to keep a £10 cut of every £100 of drugs she sold, Hull Crown Court heard as she was being prosecuted in 2021.

READ MORE: Man accused of biting head off woman’s pet python after argument

Rachel Scott, prosecuting, told the court that Lorraine travelled from East Yorkshire to Bradford with money and then returned in a taxi, which was stopped by police on the M62 motorway and searched.

Police found 76 wraps of heroin and 58 wraps of crack cocaine, with a total value of £1,920, in her handbag, as well as a mobile phone which had messages indicating Class A drug dealing during the search

No cash was found on her.

Her lawyer, Connor Stuart, said during mitigation that she was under pressure from the Bradford dealers, who he said exploited the Hull resident.

He said that she sold drugs as directed by a county lines telephone contact.

“She had no influence on those above her in the chain,” her lawyer added.

“She was trusted to move drugs and cash”.

While Lorraine, a mum-of-three, had previous convictions, none were for drug-trafficking related offences.

She was jailed for two years and four months after admitting to possession crack cocaine and heroin with intent to supply in 2021

Lorraine had worked at the Hammonds/House of Fraser department store, in Hull city centre, until its closure.

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here

READ NEXT: