Woman had 49 blocks of cannabis in her flat

Rosaleen Mary Bradley, who appeared at Belfast Crown Court with 197 criminal convictions on her record, will spend six months in Hydebank, followed by 18 months on supervised licence for the drugs offence.

Described in court as a drug addict who used to spend £350 a day on cocaine, the 35-year-old was urged to attend drugs counselling and treatment programmes as part of her post-custody probation.

Crown prosecutor Rosemary Walsh said the cannabis resin was found at various locations in Bradley’s flat at Fianna House in the New Lodge area of the city on June 1 last year.

Police called at the property on an unrelated matter, and during a search of the premises, multiple blocks of wrapped-up cannabis were found – including 25 blocks weighing 2.48 kilograms which were located in a black holdall in a bedroom cupboard.

In total, 49 blocks of the class B drug were seized, which amounted to 4.88 kilograms.

Police estimated the drugs to be worth around £24,500, an amount disputed by the defence, who said the “realistic value” was around £10,000.

Following her arrest, Bradley was interviewed about the drugs, and made the case she was storing the cannabis under duress as she owned money to dealers due to her own habit. She also told police the drugs were due to be collected.

Ms Walsh said that while the Crown don’t accept Bradley’s claim of duress, it was accepted that Bradley didn’t own the drugs, that there was no evidence she herself was dealing, and that it was her intention to ‘supply’ the drugs back to their owner.

Despite initially pleading ‘not guilty’ to a charge of possessing cannabis with intent to supply, Bradley subsequently admitted the offence.

Defence barrister Stephen Toal also noted a complete lack of evidence to suggest his client was dealing drugs, and again made the case Bradley became involved “due to pressure.”