Mother and son’s friend jailed for dealing crack cocaine

A mother struggling with crack cocaine addiction has been jailed after she teamed up with her son’s friend to deal class A drugs from her Briton Ferry home.

Michelle Wetherall, 57, and Gerard Hallinan, 22, were caught when police raided her flat in Llansawel on 5 September after spotting a man leaving with a pot containing a white substance.

Officers found Wetherall in her bedroom with two tick lists, a phone, and £1,000 in cash. They also discovered 11g of cannabis worth up to £90 and 66 pregabalin tablets.

Hallinan was detained walking out of the living room, where police found a 53g lump of crack cocaine on a shelf worth up to £5,210. Officers also seized 3.2g of cannabis, THC sweets, drug paraphernalia, and a total of £5,731 in cash.

Cardiff Crown Court heard that Wetherall’s phone contained drug-related messages with requests for “rock”, whilst Hallinan – nicknamed “Irish” – had a second phone showing he’d been dealing to both users and other suppliers.

Prosecutor Sian Cutter told the court the defendants were dealing drugs jointly for “significant profit”, including selling to downstream suppliers.

Wetherall pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine, possession with intent to supply cocaine and cannabis, and possession of criminal property. She has 45 previous convictions, including a three-year prison sentence for possession with intent to supply heroin and cocaine.

The court heard Wetherall, who suffers from cervical cancer, became involved in dealing to fund her own crack cocaine addiction and had been self-medicating to relieve pain.

Hallinan, of Davies Square, Newport, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine and possession of criminal property. His barrister Alex Scott said his client was a young man with a “difficult and fractured upbringing”, which led him to begin using cannabis as a way of coping.

Judge Shomon Khan sentenced Wetherall to 45 months imprisonment and Hallinan to three years detention in a young offenders institute.