Drug dealing sisters who supplied cocaine to their friends and family in Dundee appeared side by side in the High Court dock.
Stephanie Millar and her twin sister Stacey, 42, appeared for sentence after both pled guilty to trafficking the Class A drug in the city between August 22 and September 16 2020.
The court heard police raided addresses across the city and found drugs and tens of thousands of pounds in cash linked to the pair, as well as evidence of their dealing.
Raids across Dundee
The High Court in Livingston was told police searched Stephanie’s home on July 30 2020 and recovered 14 wraps of cocaine mixed with phenacetin which were worth £280.
Sets of scales bearing traces of cocaine and £290 in cash were found.
A second search of the rented property on September 16 2020 recovered between £380 and £550 of cocaine, another set of scales and four notepads which contained figures, calculations and phone numbers.
Eight pieces of paper with a mobile phone number written on them, which the prosecution said could have been intended as ‘calling cards’, were also recovered, along with a mobile phone containing messages indicative of Stephanie’s concern in the sale of cocaine.
The same day officers searched Stacey’s rented flat in Canning Place and found her holding a folded piece of paper containing a small quantity of the Class A drug.
A former male co-accused from Birmingham was found in the bedroom along with almost 27 grams of cocaine mixed with pain-relief drug phenatecin, with a potential value of between £1,400 and £2,670.
In the bedroom they also recovered £5,943 in cash, a set of scales, two ‘crack pipes’ and a knife bearing traces of the drug .
Stacey’s fingerprints were on the wrap she was holding but not on the larger packages of drugs in the bedroom.
However, messages on her phone showed she had arranged to sell relatively small quantities of cocaine and was seeking payments of small amounts owed as debts for the previous supply of the drug.
Police went on to search another property on Blackness Road, accessed by Stacey for cocaine and the key for which was in the man’s possession.
They recovered 238.6 grams of the drug mix with a potential value of between £10,220 and £23,770 along with another set of scales bearing traces of cocaine.
The Crown said the 22-year-old male had been charged with being concerned in the supply of class A drugs and was likely to face trial.
Battles with addiction
Andrew Crosbie, defending Stephanie, said she was part of a “familiar and sad story” of someone with a good education and work record who found herself battling with drug addiction and putting her life on hold since 2009.
He said she had since moved away from negative peer groups and had found employment at a social club in the Dundee area.
Allan McLeod, representing Stacey Millar, urged the court not to impose the minimum sentence of seven years – due to previous convictions – on the grounds it would be unjust in a case involving “very low level” dealing of such a small quantity of cocaine.
He said she had been subjected to trauma in her childhood and had turned to drugs at the age of 25 in a bid to deal with it.
He said: “When her partner died, that unfortunately led to a spiral of her returning to drugs.
“She’s served a prison sentence where she’s managed to be free of drugs.”
He said Millar, who had undergone numerous courses while in custody, was now intent on working towards her recovery.
Sentencing
Judge Lord Lake sentenced Stephanie Millar to an 18-month community payback order, which includes a compulsory drug treatment requirement and 180 hours of unpaid work.
The mother-of-three from Kinghorne Road had previously only had fines for JP Court offences.
He sentenced mother-of-two Stacey Millar, whose address was given as HMP Saughton to five years in prison but backdated it to September 17 2020 when she was first remanded.
She has four previous convictions for dealing heroin, for which she has served prison sentences totalling six years and eight months.
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