Isle of Man woman jailed over cocaine-hidden-in-speaker plot

Franklynn Bate was sentenced at Douglas Courthouse on Friday

A woman who agreed to have £27,585 worth of cocaine hidden in a speaker sent to her home has been jailed for three years and 11 months.

Franklynn Bate, 29, was arrested after accepting a dummy package delivered to her Douglas home on 26 May last year.

Douglas Courthouse heard the drugs had been intercepted at the postal sorting office the previous day.

Phone messages revealed she had also been dealing cannabis between December 2020 and May 2021, the court heard.

A package addressed to Frankie Harris at Bate's address was identified as suspicious by postal staff, the court was told.

Track-and-trace checks

After the drugs were removed, the parcel was delivered to Bate's home in Sumark Croft, Douglas at about 10:00 BST where she accepted it.

Police then carried out a two-hour surveillance operation before arresting her.

The package could not be found in her home, but a search of a neighbouring property uncovered it in a shopping bag on top of the washing machine, along with a quantity of cannabis and Bate's mobile phone.

Messages on the phone revealed she knew the drugs squad was "at the top of the road" and confirmed she had taken the parcel next door.

The phone also showed she had used the online track and trace system to check on the whereabouts of the parcel 65 times over an 11-hour period.

She later admitted to agreeing to accept the package on behalf of a family member in exchange for payment.

'Foolish mistake'

Bate admitted importing cocaine to the Isle of Man, attempted possession of the drug with intent to supply, as well as possession of cannabis and being concerned in the supply of it.

In mitigation, her defence advocate said she accepted making a "foolish mistake" but had thought the package was going to contain cannabis and not class A drugs.

Bate had been "used by someone she should have been able to trust", he added.

Deemster Graeme Cook said it was an example of how "unscrupulous drug dealers pick on vulnerable people".

"The problem is drug dealers look upon people like you to further their grossly offensive, high profit margins," he said.

While jail time was unavoidable, the sentence handed down had been "purposefully" set below four years because Bate was pregnant, he added.