Amanda Meadowcroft and Bradley Couzins have both been jailed
A mother and son have been sentenced for smuggling 14kg worth of cocaine to Manchester Airport.
Border force stopped Amanda Meadowcroft, 53, and her friend at Manchester Airport on April 22 last year after they returned from a holiday to Punta Canta, in the Dominican Republic.
Meadowcroft’s friend was asked by officers if she packed her two suitcases herself. She said she had packed the blue suitcase but that the black bag was packed by Meadowcroft’s son, Bradley Couzins, 34, who had also paid for her return ticket, Manchester Crown Court heard during a sentencing hearing on Thursday (March 12).
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The black bag was searched, and nine packages of cocaine were found wrapped in brown wrapping. Five other packages were then also found and wrapped in the same way in the blue bag.
Meadowcroft was later found at the airport by officers, and claimed she had been on a one week holiday to the Dominican Republic which she had won through Facebook.
Her luggage was searched but no further drugs found, however officers did seize the defendant’s mobile phone and found text messages between Meadowcroft and Couzins, where they discussed how to smuggle the drugs back into the country. The court heard how Couzins was the mastermind.
In the messages, Couzins discussed with Meadowcroft, of Argyle Street Darwen, Lancashire, where she would go and whether she would be travelling business or standard class. He also organised their tickets, passports, and transport from the airport.
After his mother and friend were arrested, Couzins was arrested at a later date on August 7, where he was also charged with assault of an emergency worker after he attempted to smash his phone out of an National Crime Agency officer’s hand and in doing so caused a “deep cut” on her finger, the court heard.
Prosecutors told the court how after all 14 packages were inspected, they were found to “contain mostly cutting agents”, meaning it was not “pure cocaine” which they believed to have been smuggling into the country. Christopher Green, an expert witness, said that if the drugs were of a high quality, they were worth up to £294,000.
A judge told the pair they had been ‘duped’.
‘This criminal family went to great lengths’
The court heard how Couzins, of Gillibrand Street Darwen, Lancashire, has 25 previous convictions, and Meadowcroft has 49 with one similar offending case in which she smuggled around 30kg of cannabis and received a 10 month suspended sentence.
Kristian Cavanagh, defending Couzins, said the defendant recognised it was a “stupid decision” and believed that he had shown genuine remorse. While in custody, Couzins saw a trauma therapist with Mr Cavanagh adding that he “engaged in all courses”.
He told the court Couzins wanted to live a “law-abiding” life, and that having a son of his own added to this motivation.
Amber Weir, defending Meadowcroft, said how there was a “degree of intimidation” from Couzins, and, in a letter Her Honour Judge Manley received before the sentencing, Meadowcroft said that she was “scared” of Couzins and that he could be “violent”.
Weir added Meadowcroft felt “ashamed” and noted her past issues with “drug dependency” has led her feeling “genuine shame” for contributing to that drug cycle.
At the time she was serving a suspended sentence for a previous smuggling conviction.
Meadowcroft has two other children, 25 and 28, as well as being a grandmother and is “motivated to be a productive member of society”, the court was told. Both pleaded guilty to fraudulent evasion of a prohibition by bringing into or taking out of the UK a controlled drug.
Sentencing, Judge Hilary Mandley said: “The facts are simple, you flew from the Dominican Republic to Manchester with luggage that contained cocaine. It was of low purity, and it appeared you had been duped. The fact that the cocaine was of low purity is neither here nor there. I will temper [your sentence] to a degree to reflect that purity was low.”
A teary Meadowcroft apologised as she was sentenced to seven years imprisonment, whereas Couzins was sentenced to seven years and six months imprisonment.
Charles Lee, NCA Senior Investigation Officer, said: “This criminal family went to great lengths to source and smuggle class A drugs into the UK. The duo planned and executed an operation born out of greed, culminating in a violent assault on an NCA officer. Thankfully the officer made a full recovery.
“Alongside key partners such as Border Force and Lancashire Police, the NCA will continue to disrupt supply chains and bring criminals like Meadowcroft and Couzins to justice.”
The woman arrested alongside Meadowcroft was initially charged but subsequently released with no further action.
