Mum and daughter who dealt drugs from their car spared jail

A drug-dealing mother and daughter who were caught selling cannabis from their BMW have been spared jail.

Sharon Chapman, 47, and her daughter Lauren, 25, were arrested by police after they were spotted dealing drugs on 12 August last year.

Officers pulled over Lauren's car outside her Leicestershire village home and discovered herbal cannabis in the central compartment worth more than £1,000.

They were arrested and had their properties searched, where a further stash of cannabis was found along with £1,150 in cash.

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A court heard how Lauren, a mother herself, could afford to buy a BMW despite being unemployed due to her drug-dealing operation.

The pair went on to admit possessing cannabis with intent to supply at Warwick Crown Court on Monday.

Lauren, of Stoke Golding, Leicestershire, was sentenced to 12 months in jail, suspended for two years and ordered to undertake 120 hours of unpaid work.

Sharon, of Stoke, was handed a 12-month community order and both were ordered to take part in rehabilitation activities and pay £525 in costs.

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Mr Recorder Freeman had told Lauren how she narrowly avoided jail and was spared for the sake of her daughter.

He said: “Clearly you did have quite a flourishing cannabis supply operation, although I accept it was to friends and acquaintances.

“It is quite clear your role falls into the significant class, and you deserve to go to prison for 12 months.

“But I am not going to send you down because of two things.

"One is your daughter who you are looking after, and the other is that, very sensibly, you are not contesting where the prosecution put you.”

Addressing Sharon, he added: “Clearly you have been quite a heavy user of cannabis over the years, but this was, as far as we know, your first contact with dealing.

"You were with your daughter who had brought you into it.”

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The court heard the pair were caught after police received information that the occupants of a BMW had been involved in an exchange of drugs.

Prosecutor Feargus Campbell said officers found a plastic bag containing 138 grams (five ounces) of herbal cannabis, which commonly sells for £10 a gram on the street.

In Sharon’s home, officers found three cannabis plants, a Quality Street tin with cannabis in it, as well as a box, another tin and two bags, all with cannabis in them.

They found £1,150 in cash and a box with cannabis, scales, a grinder, and a roll of small plastic bags at Lauren address.

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She claimed the cannabis was all for personal use, saying she bought a large quantity in one go because she had had trouble getting hold of it.

But messages on her phone showed she had been dealing to 33 individual customers and that she had previously made a bulk five-ounce purchase of the drug.

Sharon also claimed the cannabis found at her home was for personal use and that she smoked 7-8 grams a day.

She also said she had run out because the cannabis at her home was of "shocking quality" and unfit to smoke.

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