Last updated at 17:14, Wednesday, 09 January 2013

A BARROW man has been accused of being linked to a drugs conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine.

A court heard that his partner had admitted being involved after police discovered she had drugs during a search of their Vulcan Road home last summer.

A jury at Preston Crown Court heard that Jason Benzie insisted to police that it was nothing to do with him and that he knew nothing of his partner Vicky Bryan receiving drugs to supply to local users, or her involvement in such activity.

Benzie, 37, is on trial at the crown court, where he denies one charge of conspiracy to supply heroin and another of conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Mr Arthur Gibson, prosecuting, said the case concerned the supply of drugs from the Merseyside area to South Cumbria, in particular Barrow.

A number of other people had been arrested and some had admitted their involvement.

A man called Kyle Griffiths, from Merseyside, was said to have played a leading role in the conspiracy.

The jury was told that one of those was Bryan, who was the defendant’s partner, and in June and July last year the couple were living together at Vulcan Road.

On July 24 last year police executed a search warrant at the address.

Bryan volunteered a Kinder egg shell which was found to contain 16 plastic bags of heroin and 15 of cocaine, together worth £700. While police moved through the house carrying out their search, a phone began ringing continuously, then another phone did the same. It was said that a known drug user was ringing the two phones.

The prosecution allege that one message, directly relevant to Benzie, was found on a phone. It said “OK Jase, are you gonna be up at midnight cos I got paid and will be wanting one as well, mate”.

Benzie told officers he was a sporadic user of heroin and had last smoked the drug two days beforehand.

No fingerprints of Benzie were found on items seized by police when they searched the Barrow address last year. He insisted to police during questioning: “I’ve nothing to do with it.”

Benzie insisted he had no connection with drug gangs on Merseyside.

He told police there would probably be some “crossover” regarding two mobile phones, because his partner Vicky Bryan had used up all her minutes, so she had started using his phone.

He also said that friends had been coming round to see him, rather than him visit them, because he had lost his driving licence, had to get rid of his car and had also lost his job.

The trial continues.

First published at 16:29, Wednesday, 09 January 2013
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk