Woman who acted as heroin ‘post office’ jailed for 30 months

A woman who acted as “a post office” by allowing drug traffickers to send heroin to her Lerwick home for dealers to pick up and sell on has been jailed for 30 months.

Desiree Hassan, 47, accepted 27.23 grammes of the class A drug at her Bruce Crescent address on 14th September.

The drugs, worth around £4,000, were concealed within a vacuum flask, but were discovered by a sniffer dog at the Post Office.

They were taken to her home in a controlled delivery. Police obtained a search warrant and swooped on the address before recovering the narcotics.

Hassan had been held in remand at Cornton Vale after sentence was previously deferred for reports. She had lost an appeal against the decision to deny her her liberty until her case had concluded.

At Lerwick Sheriff Court today defence agent Tommy Allan said Hassan accepted she would likely be going to jail, but he urged the sheriff to consider sparing her from prison.

He said she had used time in custody to get herself off drugs despite having taken them for most of her adult life.

Mr Allan argued in favour of a community-based sentence which, tied in with a drug treatment and testing order (DTTO), could be of benefit to her.

He said Hassan had not enjoyed the best of health, and would struggle more than most if she were to return to prison.

“With all due respect to Miss Hassan, she’s not getting any younger and not getting any healthier. A time in custody would perhaps be more uncomfortable for her than it would be for anyone else.”

Mr Allan added Hassan was worried she could lose her house tenancy, which she has enjoyed for the last eight years, if she were given a custodial sentence.

He said she had hoped to clear debts she had by accepting the container. She was also offered a quantity of heroin as part of her payment.

But Sheriff Graeme Napier told Hassan he had no choice but to impose a custodial sentence – not least because she already had two convictions for drug dealing.

He told her: “You have acted in a significant role as a post office.”

However he took into account her circumstances as well as her early plea and restricted her sentence from a starting-off point of four years.  

Hassan’s sentence will be backdated to 15th September when she was first held on remand.