DRUGS DEBT PAID OFF BY BARRIST

Byline: Telegraph Reporter

A NUNEATON barrister hygetropin who only discovered her husband was addicted to heroin and crack after marrying him, later paid off a pounds 12,000 drugs debt he had run up, a court heard.

Victoria Edmonds-Shakell paid the money to a notorious dealer who was later jailed for nine years.

The 28-year-old, who is a member of St Philips Chambers in Birmingham, also gave husband Paul Shakell money, knowing he was likely to use it to buy drugs, which is a criminal offence.

But this week she walked free from court with an absolute discharge after a judge heard she'd been placed in the "virtually impossible position" by her husband who "drained her financially".

Nottingham Crown Court was told Edmonds-Shakell, of St Nicholas Road, Nuneaton, was placed under "severe moral pressure" by her husband.

John Price QC, prosecuting, said an investigation into Edmonds-Shakell was undertaken following the arrest of a major drug dealer, Kenroy Johns, in Rugby in 2008.

An investigation into Johns' bank accounts revealed a series of payments from Edmonds-Shakell.

The court was told the paying off of debts did not constitute a criminal offence. But Mr Price said Edmonds-Shakell also admitted giving Shakell pounds 100, "not intending, but foreseeing that he might spend it on the purchase of drugs".

Edmonds-Shakell denied two counts of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs - pleas that were accepted by the prosecution. Johns, 41, was convicted of conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine following a trial. Paul Shakell was given a caution in November 2007 after police stopped his car and found heroin.

Rex Tedd QC, defending, said when Edmonds-Shakell married her husband, "all on the horizon appeared to be rosy". However, he added that the "reality soon became horrifically apparent". The couple are now separated. Judge Michael Stokes said: "There was the man you had recently married in debt to someone a hygetropin jury clearly decided was a drug dealer of some significance. A husband who had no means of his own, subject to the wellknown pressures of a drug dealer.

"How were you to know, if you gave him money, what he would do with it? You have found yourself in this nightmare for several years, having to maintain a professional position.

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"I can see no moral guilt to that you have pleaded guilty, given the circumstances. There is no justification in imposing any sentence other than an absolute discharge. This is not because of the professional position you hold. This would apply to any woman in your position."

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