AN illegal drug "middle-manager" who arranged the supply of heroin from her Kendal home has been locked up for 40 months.

Police raided Samantha Wall's Stricklandgate address in December last year. They found five grammes of heroin which the 41-year-old had for her own use over the Christmas period.

However, analysis of a mobile phone found at her property revealed she was also involved in heroin dealing between November 17 and December 4 last year. Messages showed she was supplying the drug to a sub-dealer and arranging wages for him.

At Carlisle Crown Court today Wall, a mother, was jailed having admitted both heroin possession and the more serious charge of conspiracy to supply the class A substance.

Judge Peter Hughes QC noted Wall had received a 28-month prison term in 2015 - also for conspiring to supply heroin. After serving that sentence, and in the wake of family tragedies and mental health difficulties, she returned to drug use. Her barrister told the court she had also been "coerced" into further dealing by "more sophisticated and ruthless" Liverpool-based criminals.