A 63-year-old grandmother has avoided prison after a police raid on her housing association property uncovered cocaine concealed in a Horlicks tub, heroin in the shed and almost £10,000 in cash stashed in a bookcase.
Donna Glynn, of Collett Close in Wigan, was found guilty by a jury at Manchester Crown Court in September of being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine. She had denied the charge.
Police Raid and Discovery
Officers raided Glynn's Collett Close address, in the Scholes district of the borough, in April 2021 after receiving information that drugs were being supplied from the premises. She had resided there for 27 years.
Prosecutor Craig McGregor stated that Glynn said she shared the property with her ex-partner, but when police entered she was there alone. The search uncovered substantial quantities of cocaine, both high-purity and adulterated forms, alongside heroin and electronic scales contaminated with drug residue.
Mr McGregor stated that Glynn 'used her housing association home for a lucrative Class A drug dealing operation'.
Details of the Drugs and Cash
Police discovered £9,645 in cash concealed within a bookcase. Glynn provided 'no proper explanation' for its origin, asserting £1,600 represented her life savings while the remainder belonged to her former partner, saved for purchasing a vehicle.
Within the kitchen, officers located 193g of cocaine stored in bags inside a Horlicks container within a cupboard. Approximately 158g of the cocaine measured 81pc purity, with the remainder at roughly 12pc, having been diluted with creatine powder. Glynn's fingerprints were identified on the packaging. Electronic scales discovered beside the Horlicks container showed traces of heroin, cocaine and cannabis.
Containers recovered from Glynn's garden shed held 60g of heroin, with her fingerprints identified on the bags. The heroin carried an estimated street value of £5,920, while the cocaine was valued at £15,800 and £1,400 in its high-purity and adulterated forms respectively.
Court Proceedings and Sentence
The presence of creatine powder in the garden provided grounds for a 'clear inference', Mr McGregor noted, that the high-purity substances would be diluted. He added: "She denied ever being involved and sought to blame her ex-partner. But these were her fingerprints, her living room, her kitchen cupboard where the tub of cocaine was found at eye level."
Glynn has two previous convictions for five offences, including possession with intent to supply cannabis in 1983, and fraud and assault in 1993. Mr McGregor said: "These are very old offences, but it's fraud, lying and drugs."
Defence barrister Tomas Quinn argued that Glynn was 'on the cusp' between a lesser and significant role, yet 'must have had some awareness and understanding'. She was reported to have 'serious' medical conditions and mobility difficulties, while also providing daily support to her 34-year-old son, who lives independently but struggles with 'some mental health issues'.
Judge Paul Mason handed down a three-year sentence, suspended for two years, acknowledging that she had not reoffended since 2021, posed a 'low risk' of reoffending, and showed a 'realistic' prospect of rehabilitation. He told her: "You claimed your ex-partner was a drug user and that you were not aware. But there was very little evidence of you having a management function in the chain or controlling street runners. I am persuaded - just - to suspend the sentence in this case. You have physical ailments and your son and bereaved mother are dependent on you. If you reoffend in that time I will need significant persuasion not to send you to prison."
Declared 'unsuitable' for unpaid work, Glynn was instructed to pay a victim surcharge along with a £500 fine, due by May 31, 2027, to be deducted from her Universal Credit payments.
