Worcester News, Worcester Sport, Worcester Leisure - From The Worcester News

Jail for heroin 'taxi driver'

From the Redditch Advertiser, first published Tuesday 26th Sep 2006.

A STUDLEY woman who ferried a drug dealer to and from Birmingham to collect supplies of heroin has failed to take advantage of a chance she was given to avoid prison.

Corrina Webb, 31, of High Street, was one of five addicts who had pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to being concerned in the supply of heroin.

And in December last year Webb was given 18-month community rehabilitation and drug treatment and testing orders by a judge who said he would not accept any excuses for failing to comply with them.

But Webb was brought back before the court for repeatedly breaching the orders, and was jailed for 10 months by Judge Richard Bray, who told her: "Sadly you have made little effort to comply with the orders."

During the original hearing, the court heard Webb was one of five addicts who ferried Stratford-based drug dealers John Payne and Jodie Palmer to and from Birmingham to collect supplies of heroin which were then sold in the Stratford area.

Payne, 34, of Kempton Close, Stratford, was jailed for five years and Palmer, 22, of the same address, for four years after they had admitted conspiring to supply heroin.

Their five "taxi drivers," including Webb who had pleaded guilty on the basis that she had taken Palmer on one trip to Birmingham for drugs, were given community orders.

But in April and May Webb failed to attend three drug treatment appointments and failed to keep in touch with her supervising probation officer for two 12-day periods.

When she appeared in court in July for a monthly review of her progress under the drug treatment order the hearing was adjourned "to give her time to apply herself to the order".

But just two days later she failed to attend an appointment which had been made for her at court, and although she was then given two further appointments, she failed to turn up for either of them.

Webb, who had also failed to turn up for further review hearings, did make it to two appointments last month, but then failed to attend again on September 13.

Asking for her to be given another chance, Webb's barrister Gerard Quirke said: "Although her progress on the drug treatment order has been erratic, it has not been all downhill.

"That progress will be lost if Your Honour sends her to custody today."

But Judge Richard Bray commented: "She has been given so many chances. She is going to be sentenced for supplying class A drugs."

Revoking the community orders and jailing Webb, the judge told her: "Sadly you have made little effort to comply with the order. You have been in breach of it once before and have failed to attend court on occasions."

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