A vulnerable Inverness drug runner who feared Liverpool gangsters would murder her family has been given a chance to turn her life around.
Stephanie Lewicki, 32, was caught with £17,000 of cocaine and heroin that she says she was holding as “collateral” so the gang would not kill her relatives, Inverness Sheriff Court heard.
She appeared before Sheriff Neil Wilson for sentence on two indictments she admitted – to involving possessing drugs and supplying them.
The court was previously told that she got a taxi from Inverness to Aviemore and was then traced by police to a restaurant there on the evening of May 15, 2022.
Fiscal depute Pauline Gair said Lewicki, who admitted possession of 250.3g of cocaine and 2.18g of heroin, was a reported missing person on May 13.
‘I took this as collateral so my family wouldn’t be murdered’
Mrs Gair said: “A taxi picked her up in Tomatin Road and she put a holdall in the boot. She told the driver she had to say goodbye to her mother as she may not see her again.
“She then asked to be taken to Glasgow but the driver said he would take her to Aviemore. The driver then reported her to police, knowing she was a missing person, and she was traced to a restaurant in Aviemore.”
Mrs Gair added that officers searched her and she had a jar of wraps hidden between her legs.
She told them: “I took this as collateral so my family wouldn’t be murdered.”
Lewicki was searched again at Burnett Road Police Station and £575 in cash was found in her bra, along with a bag of wraps and a Kinder egg.
The total value of the cocaine and heroin was £17,310.
‘You appear to be turning your life around’
The other case involved a police raid on a house in Glendoe Terrace, Inverness, on August 2 2021 which discovered a drug dealing den with several people inside.
The court heard one of them was Lewicki and her mobile phone was seized.
Fiscal depute Susan Love told the court: “The accused’s mobile phone was examined and text messages indicative of her being involved in the supply of cocaine were found, dating from June 17, 2021.
“In total, around £380 worth of cocaine was recovered from the property.”
Defence solicitor advocate Clare Russell said: “She is a lady who has had quite a difficult life so far, in abusive relationships and was in the companionship of the wrong people.
“She has distanced herself from that lifestyle.”
Ordering Lewicki, of Galloway Drive, Inverness, to be under social work supervision for 18 months and to complete 270 hours of unpaid work, the sheriff told her: “I accept you are a vulnerable person. But make no mistake, if you ever get into this trouble again, you will struggle to avoid a prison sentence.
“You appear to be turning your life around so I will give you a chance.”
