An 'impulsive' mum was caught trying to flee her home with her son's drugs stash in the boot of her car.
Joel Lawler had been stopped by officers while dealing drugs from his Mercedes in Southport, Merseyside, in October 2020.
When his mum, Gemma Morris, was tipped off about his arrest she acted "in a moment of madness" and attempted to drive away with a safe containing cash and drugs which he kept at home, a court heard.
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Officers who were on their way to search Lawler’s Ormskirk home caught her pulling off the driveway as they arrived at the property, Liverpool Echo reports.
Michael Stephenson, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that officers found two wraps of ketamine on Lawler when they searched him on October 31, after receiving reports of a suspicious activity by a man in a Mercedes.
"They asked if he had any further material and he produced more wraps," Mr Stephenson said.
A total of eight wraps of ketamine, as well as four wraps of cocaine, 1.5g of MDMA and £550 was recovered, while Lawler’s phone was said to have been “extremely active”.
While on their way to search his home on Derby Street, Lawler admitted that there was a safe containing "more drugs and cash" at the property, the court heard. Morris was pulling away from the house in her car as they arrived.
Mr Stephenson said a "nervous" Morris admitted she had a safe in the boot of the car, which was found to have £3,565 and more drugs inside it. She said she had collected from the defendant’s room after receiving a call from his girlfriend, the court heard.
Lawler, now aged 20, was linked to 65g of ketamine, 14g of cocaine and 5g of MDMA in total.
Kyra Badman, defending Lawler, said he had been “open and honest from the outset with the police officers”.
She said he was 19 at the time, displayed a level of immaturity and had lost his job during the early stages of the pandemic - leading to him losing structure in his life, using drugs and falling into debt.
Ms Badman, referring to Morris being alongside her client in the dock, said: “Her presence is a result of his criminality. He is extremely disappointed and upset with himself for placing her in that situation.”
Lawler admitted possession with intent to supply cocaine, MDMA and ketamine and was sentenced to 32 months in a Young Offenders Institution.
Peter Killen, defending Morris, said the 41-year-old was employed, of positive good character and was integral to the care required for her mum.
The court heard that Morris was unaware that her son was involved in dealing drugs until she found the safe in her son's room on the night of the incident.
He said she acted in a “moment of madness” after receiving the call while in bed.
“She was risking casting her entire life into the gutter because in that moment she was panicking and thinking about her son," he told the court.
Morris admitted perverting the course of justice and was handed a 10 month sentence, suspended for 18 months, 100 hours of unpaid work and placed on a three month curfew.
Sentencing her, Judge David Aubrey, QC said: “Any offence of perverting the course of public justice is, in the judgement of this court, an extremely serious offence and this court must have deterrence at the forefront of its mind and thus must have, and does have, at the forefront of its mind, an immediate custodial sentence.”
However, he said he had to consider that the offence took place in October 2020, the context in which it was committed and that, as Morris was caught, her actions did not impede the police investigation.
He concluded: “Those factors, and those factors alone, have persuaded this court just - and only just - to suspend what would otherwise have been the appropriate sentence."
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