Folkestone: Man Jailed After Sending Child To Nursery With Lunchbox Of Cocaine

13 January 2015, 13:55

A man who sent his three-year-old son to nursery with a lunchbox full of drugs worth £12,000 has been sentenced to four-years in prison.

23-year-old Lee Webb, of Burrow Road, Folkestone, dropped his child off at the Folkestone nursery at 8.45am on 28 March 2014. Instead of giving nursery staff a bag containing his child’s lunch, Webb accidently handed over a bag containing a mix of class A and B drugs, drugs paraphernalia and knives. Realising his mistake he requested the bag back, but the staff refused and called the police.

Webb was arrested later that day, during his arrest officers noticed Webb had written the number for his solicitor on the back of his hand.

In interview Webb stated that a friend had given him the bag to look after. He later realised that it contained white powder and was intending to call his friend to take the bag back. He claimed he had mistakenly given it to the nursery.

A further inspection by forensic officers found that the two plastic lunchboxes contained white powder, which was later confirmed to be cocaine and mephedrone with an estimated value of between £8,000 and £12,000. Weighing scales were also seized from the bag as were two knives. Several hundreds of pounds of cash were located when officers searched his home; Webb claimed that this was her personal savings.

Webb admitted one count of possessing cocaine with intent to supply and one count of possessing mephedrone with intent to supply. He appeared before Canterbury Crown Court on Tuesday, 6 January where he was sentenced to four-years behind bars.

Speaking after sentencing, the investigating officer Detective Constable Kay Brown said: "Stupidity does not even come close to describing the actions of this man. The consequences of his irresponsible, not to mention illegal actions, could have been severe. As a father his role is to protect and nurture, however he put his own child at serious risk of harm.

"The staff at the nursery must be praised for their actions. Clearly a serious offence had been committed and they would not be intimidated when Webb demanded the drugs and other items back and they rightly called the police.

"This is a significant custodial sentence which reflects the severity of the crime."

Webb was sentenced to 4-years for possession of class A drugs with intent to supply. He was sentenced to a further 8-months for possession of class B drugs. The 8-month sentence will run concurrently with the 4-years.