Hucknall woman recruited mum and step-dad for family drug dealing business

Nottingham Crown Court heard police did not find Chelsea Toulsen when they raided her Lime Tree Road address, on January 6, 2020, because she was at her mother’s house on the same street.

Tom Heath, prosecuting, said cannabis worth £220, digital scales and £220 in cash were found at the 27-year-old’s house, along with a diary listing drug debts.

And £4,080 of the class B drug and £1,290 in cash were found at the address shared by her mother Maxine Taulson and stepfather Lyndon Parker.

All three were arrested and messages advertising cannabis for sale, arrangements for drug deals and references to bulk quantities of cannabis stored at the house were found on their phones.

Toulsen denied all knowledge and said the drugs could have been planted by her ex-boyfriend, while Parker said the cash was savings for his funeral.

However, all three pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis with intent to supply, between May 2018 and January 2020.

Abigail Jones, mitigating, said Toulsen was in a relationship with a man who was physically abusive to her and addicted to drugs.

He ran up a debt to dealers and, “through coercion and intimidation”, she was made to deal drugs to pay off the debt.

Three years on, she is a completely different person, Ms Jones said.

She conceded Toulsen played a “significant role”, but it was a small operation and there was no evidence of a lavish lifestyle.

Sentencing, Mr Recorder Adrian Reynolds told them: “A more unlikely band of criminals I don’t think I’ve ever seen, but the fact is for a significant period you were involved in dealing cannabis.”

He imposed a 12-month prison term, suspended for 18 months, on Toulsen, with 15 rehabilitation days, and warned her: “If you get involved in anything like this again, the next judge will not be so naive.”

He accepted Taulson, 58, and 48-year-old Parker were put in a difficult position and not dealing for financial gain. They wanted to help their daughter, he said, and, while he did not approve, could “understand it on a human level”.

Handing them 18-month conditional discharges, he ordered them to pay £210 costs.