Today [Thursday 5 May 2022] 35 year old Tara-Lei Cowell was sentenced to seven years and 44 year old Michael Clohessy received a seven and a half year sentence in prison for drug offences.

Following an investigation by the Drug Squad in 2021, 8oz of Class A Heroin with a street value of £215,000 was seized and Clohessy and Cowell were arrested and charged.

Clohessy arrived in the Island in October last year, followed by Cowell a few days later. Officers observed them meeting up in Howard Davis Park and going into the toilet block before hanging around some bushes in the park. They were arrested a short time afterwards in a nearby pub. A search in the area of the park they had been seen revealed the Heroin buried in a shallow hole.

Cowell was later found to be in possession of four grams of Class A Cocaine, which she had secreted internally.

Both pleaded guilty to being concerned in the importation of a controlled drug.

Lead Drug Squad investigating officer, Detective Constable Adam Claxton said: “Those intent on supplying illegal drugs in our island will be pursued with vigour and we will use every tool at our disposal to prosecute them.”