Northampton drug dealer linked to County Lines conspiracy worth nearly £60,000 handed 'exceptional' suspended sentence

A drug dealer from Northampton who was linked to a County Lines conspiracy worth nearly £60,000 has been given an "exceptional" suspended sentence.

Lisa Carmen Warren, aged 43, of Newton Road, Duston, Northampton, was sentenced at Northampton Crown Court on Wednesday (March 2) for possession with intent to supply Class A drugs after she caught with 19 wraps of crack cocaine and 14 wraps of heroin with a street value of more than £250 on October 1, 2020.

The drugs were obtained as part of a far wider County Lines conspiracy that supplied the Class A drugs to Northampton, Watford and Nottingham between July 2020 and April 2021, raking in almost £60,000. The leaders of this conspiracy were prosecuted at the same court late last year.

Regarding Warren, the court heard that the dealer had herself been an addict since her "mid teens to early 20's" and used the sale of the illegal substances to pay back her own drug debts.

Lynsey Knott, prosecuting, said the mother-of-four deserved credit for pleading guilty at an early opportunity, similar to other members of the operation. She also said it was "clear" that Warren had not gained financially from the situation as all of the proceeds went to those higher up the chain.

Mrs Knott merely requested the confiscation of approximately £70 that Warren had on her at the time of arrest, in addition to her sentence.

Paul Webb, defending, said: "What led to these offences is a history of Miss Warren's own drug addiction over a long period of time.

"She suffered with severe depression in her mid-teens.

"Of course she's able to say this now, with the benefit of hindsight, but she self-medicated with drugs and that escalated quite quickly into a drug addiction through her mid-teens and early twenties.

"She has four children and has obviously been able to apply herself to prioritising the early stages of looking after her children.

"My submission will ask His Honour to consider an alternative to imprisonment.

"She is someone who can obviously focus on matters within addiction. She was funding it through low-level crime.

"In her early 40s, she genuinely wants to change, because she knows that, if she doesn't, life will continue on a downward slide for her."

His Honour Judge David Herbert QC, presiding, described the case as being on a "knife edge" that balanced between Warren keeping her freedom, albeit with restrictions, and facing up to three years in prison.

He took into account the fact that Warren was not involved in the wider conspiracy to supply drugs, merely the supply of those drugs to Northampton. She assisted the operation alongside at least two other men, who were sentenced at the same time as the main ringleaders.

Judge Herbert said: "I sentenced your co-defendants about four weeks ago and we heard the extent of their drug dealing.

"They used people such as yourself to supply the drugs to customers in the street. The evidence showed that it was a profitable business for those at the top.

"Shortly before your arrest on that day [October 1, 2020] you sent a message to your co-defendant Kaliq Allen [the "trusted second" of Rickel Prince, the operation's leader], which proved that you were supplying drugs.

"At 43 you have previous convictions, but predominantly for shoplifting.

"There is nothing on here to do with the distribution of drugs and therefor this offending is a significant escalation in your offending.

"I have to balance punishment for the serious offending you were involved with, as well as rehabilitation.

"I have decided to take an exceptional course in your case and I am willing to suspend the sentence. When I say this case was on a knife edge, it was."

Warren was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for 21 months, 30 rehabilitation days, as well as drug and mental health treatment requirements.