A woman who ran a cannabis and cocaine dealing operation to fund her lavish has been ordered to pay back £100,000.
Danielle Stafford, 31, from Hallgate, Cottingham, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years in April 2023 after pleading guilty to three offences.
Before Hull Crown Court, she admitted to being concerned in supplying heroin, crack cocaine and cannabis, and another of possessing cash as criminal property on dates spanning October 2017 and May 2020.
The former University of Hull graduate made so much money from selling drugs that she splashed out on nine luxury watches, three Louis Vuitton handbags and even a second house.
The case resurfaced this week as the court determined how much money Stafford made from criminal activities – and how much she would be ordered to pay back.
With Stafford attending the hearing via a video link from prison, prosecutor Nadim Bashir confirmed a criminal benefit figure had been agreed at £96,263.
She has been ordered to pay this amount within three months or face another year of prison time, to be served consecutively.
During the original trial, it was revealed that Stafford was caught by pure chance when she was stopped for speeding and officers could smell cannabis coming from her silver Audi on May 12, 2020.
Danielle Stafford (pictured) was jailed for seven-and-a-half years in April 2023 after pleading guilty to three offences
The 31-year-old from Hallgate, Cottingham, admitted to being concerned in supplying heroin, crack cocaine and cannabis, and another of possessing cash as criminal property
When questioned about the stench, Stafford ‘immediately lied’, telling police: ‘I’ll be honest, I’ve got this’ and handed over a small silver wrap containing two buds of cannabis skunk.
Police went onto find more drugs on her including two food bags containing cannabis skunk.
On the way to the police station, Stafford was seen ‘fidgeting’ with her jogging bottoms and she was asked if she had any more drugs hidden.
She said: ‘Yes, but it’s not mine and I don’t know what it is. I shoved it down my joggers when you pulled me.’
Stafford pulled out a bag containing cocaine. There were 56 wraps of crack cocaine, valued at £2,800.
An iPhone was also found with drug messages on it.
‘From the moment of seizure of the drugs to the arrival in the police station custody suite, the mobile iPhone was constantly ringing and receiving messages from different people,’ said Mr Bashir. ‘Some 30 phone calls were received and 10 to 20 text messages.’
After forcing entry, officers found £26,917 cash stashed around her three-bedroom home in Cottingham and drugs with a street value of £33,600.
Stafford has been ordered to pay £96,263 within three months or face another year of prison time, to be served consecutively
Police later found £26,917 cash stashed around her home and drugs with a street value of £33,600
She also had luxury goods including nine watches and three expensive Louis Vuitton handbags, Hull Crown Court heard.
A glass jar with plastic drugs bags inside it was found hidden behind a bag of coal bricks in the rear garden.
There, officers found 270 wraps of crack cocaine, valued at £13,500, and 205 wraps of heroin, valued at £4,100, in the jar. Stafford denied knowledge of them.
In the living room, herbal cannabis, valued at £2,500, was found in an open, empty banana box on a table. She denied that it belonged to her.
Two glass jars were found to contain cannabis valued at £370. Police also found weighing scales, a large amount of cash and more food bags. She admitted that this belonged to her.
In Stafford’s bedroom, herbal cannabis and Ecstasy tablets were discovered alongside wads of cash Wads of cash.
More cash, totalling £7,580, was found in a safe but she denied that it was hers.
Three Louis Vuitton handbags and nine watches were uncovered. She admitted that these were hers but pretended the designer items were fake or had merely been given to her by family members from their holidays to places like Turkey and Spain.
A phone constantly rang with 30 calls or pinged with up to 20 drug messages after Stafford was arrested
In an upstairs box room, cash bundles of £9,100, £1,668, £550, £700, £1,110, £165, £190 and £91 were found.
Examination of Stafford’s bank accounts revealed a string of luxury holidays had been taken.
Mr Bashir said this was ‘evidence of an additional stream of cash income’ apart from her monthly wages from working for Swift Group.
Stafford had bought her Cottingham home in March 2016 for £124,999 with a mortgage and a property in Hotham Road South in July 2018 without a mortgage for £68,500 in equal shares with her aunt.
Stafford paid the ‘lion’s share’ of £64,927 from cashing in premium bonds and she told police that she bought it to rent out.
‘Even with rental or lodgings allowances, neither property was able to provide any significant source of income to justify the cash found in the house,’ said Mr Bashir.
During police interview, Stafford claimed that a Liverpudlian man had been staying with her on and off and that he had phoned her to say that he had left something at her address.
When she got home, there was a large amount of cannabis and, when he asked her to take it to him, she said that she did not feel comfortable doing so.
Hull Crown Court heard that Stafford had a long-running ‘additional cash income stream’
She claimed that he asked her to bring a bag of drugs and, in a panic, she grabbed it and was driving to meet him when she was stopped by police.
Stafford denied that she or the lad were dealing drugs but later admitted that she would drive to Liverpool and bring him back to Hull.
She denied knowledge of any of the large amounts of cash found around her home, claiming that she looked after it for the man, including keeping it for him in her own bedroom – apart from £2,350 which belonged to her.
‘She said that the money in the safe had nothing to do with her and all the other cash belonged to the lad,’ said Mr Bashir.
The prosecutor told the court that Stafford was an ‘enthusiastic’ cannabis dealer and progressed to becoming a Class A cocaine dealer.
‘She had somehow managed to avoid her drug dealing activities coming to the attention of the police for a substantial period of time,’ said Mr Bashir.
‘The natural result of this was that she was able to accumulate a substantial amount of wealth, including purchasing an investment property, a house to rent. Cash found in her home address amounted to £26,917.
‘The contents of her home address in Hallgate, Cottingham, is strong evidence of the nature of her drugs business. The amount, type and value of drugs found at her home were substantial. The drugs alone were street valued at £33,600. This is sustained drug dealing.’
She claimed that most of the expensive items that were found were not designer but were fake or had merely been given to her by family members from their holidays
During the 2023 hearing, Saleema Mahmood, mitigating, said that Stafford was dealing cannabis but claimed that her involvement in Class A dealing came about due to her association with a person from Liverpool.
She argued that evidence of any Class A dealing was extremely limited and came from two sets of messages.
The lawyer claimed there was an element of naivety and exploitation in Stafford’s involvement and she had little influence on those above her in the chain.
Stafford also said that her family was in the habit of keeping large amounts of cash at home, rather than in a bank, and that she was entrusted to look after it for others as she was seen as being a ‘responsible’ person who could be ‘trusted’ with money.
The court were shown references from previous employers and told that Stafford had tried to get work and had volunteered.
