Knaresborough addict jailed for drug dealing after police discover heroin at his flat

A former caretaker has been jailed after police discovered heroin and drug paraphernalia during a raid on his Knaresborough flat.
Lee Mulvaney (s)Lee Mulvaney (s)
Lee Mulvaney (s)

Lee Mulvaney, 49, was arrested when police swooped on his flat in Knaresborough and discovered the Class A drug.

They found over 17g of heroin which had been wrapped up along with digital scales and £490 in cash, York Crown Court heard.

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Mulvaney, of Cheapside, pleaded guilty to possessing the drugs with intent to supply and appeared for sentence at York Crown Court on Thursday.

Prosecutor Rob Galley said the heroin, stashed in a carrier bag, had a street value of about £860.

He said officers had targeted Mulvaney’s home after concerned neighbours told police about suspicious-looking people going to and from the property.

The court heard that Mulvaney, who had a long-standing heroin habit, had previous convictions going back to his youth for offences including drug possession, handling stolen goods and assault.

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His barrister Nicola Alistari said Mulvaney was in the throes of drug addiction at the time of the police raid on February 25 last year.

“Clearly, heroin has blighted this man’s life,” she said.

“He has children, but he is the first to say that heroin came first."

Mulvaney worked as a janitor until 2011, until his heroin addiction as well as Hepatitis C cut short his career.

He was put on a course of methadone, the heroin substitute, but found this was just as addictive as the real thing.

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Judge Paul Worlsey QC rubbished Mulvaney’s claim that he was selling only to friends and acquaintances to feed his habit.

He said: “You were involving others by using mobile phones and neighbours noted others arriving at your home to receive drugs.”

Jailing Mulvaney for three years and eight months, he told the defendant: “Drugs can cause devastation to individuals as you have witnessed, and it causes devastation to their families.

“This court will do whatever it can to punish those who supply drugs and will seek to protect the public from your activities.

"You have breached (drug) rehabilitation orders (in the past) - this is the day of reckoning.”

Mulvaney was also ordered to pay £300 costs.