Drug courier starts jail term

A CRACK cocaine courier from Ipswich arrested with more than £4,000 worth of drugs on him was today starting a five year jail sentence.

Peter Steward, 50, of Johnson Close, Ipswich, was arrested at Ipswich Railway Station on September 19 last year with 41 grams of crack returning to Suffolk from bulk buying the highly addictive drug at Kings Cross in London.

Ipswich Crown Court today heard how Steward became addicted to crack after his wife left him taking his three children to Denmark and then Sweden despite a high court injunction against her.

In mitigation defence counsel Andrew Shaw said: "Mr Steward had had no contact with his children for three years at the time of his arrest.

"His father also died in April last year when soon after Mr Steward was offered a cigarette which he thought contained cannabis but in fact contained crack cocaine.

"The effect he described as 'fantastic' altering his mood. Within a short space of time he was addicted."

The court heard how Steward paid £520 for two lumps of crack, sufficient for 400 deals at £10, making a profit of some £3,500.

At Steward's trial at Bury Crown Court, where he pleaded not guilty to both possession and supply of a class A drug, the jury heard evidence that Steward did not deal in the drug but merely acted as a courier.

In sentencing Steward to five years in jail, Recorder Nicholas Hamblen QC, told Steward "You are fully aware that the cocaine was to be used on the streets of Ipswich. As a crack addict you know the consequences of crack cocaine which is a particularly nasty drug that quickly runs people down and leads to a life of crime."

Steward, who at the height of his addiction spent £50 a day on crack, maintained throughout his trial on March 11 this year that he had been to London to bulk purchase the drug but it was entirely for his own personal use.

The court heard how Steward had recently been reintroduced to a happy family life through his fiancé.