A wheelchair-bound pensioner who became the ‘Queenpin’ of a large heroin dealing operation has narrowly avoided jail after getting caught red-handed by police.
Elizabeth Balaam, 67, was caught weighing up and bagging quantities of street heroin in Thetford, Norfolk when police burst into her property in September 2022.
Two containers of brown powder were discovered in a coffee table together with a small pre-packed bag containing about 20g grams of heroin, estimated to have a street value of over £1,000.
Balaam, who has 28 previous convictions for 74 offences including selling crack cocaine, initially denied possessing class A drugs with intent to supply.
But she later changed her plea to guilty a month before her trial.
Judge David Pugh suspended a two year sentence for 24 months on Tuesday at Norwich Crown Court after hearing she had turned to dealing in order to fund her own drug addiction.
He said: ‘I accept that because of your vulnerability there was some degree of exploitation and that there was limited financial advantage which was mainly to fund your own habit.’
Oliver Haswell, prosecuting, told the court that Balaam had been: ‘Dealing in drugs worth hundreds of pounds at a time, not just single wrap deals’.
The court heard Balaam had become addicted while married to her ex-husband, but had begun bulk buying heroin and dealing it to other addicts in recent years.
Her activities came to light after a police surveillance operation that monitored a large number of known addicts, visiting her home on regular occasions.
One woman seen leaving had been found in possession of white powder later identified as diamorphine, known to users as street heroin.
John Morgans, mitigating, said Balaam was now getting help and treatment for her addiction.
He added: ‘She is in very poor health and is terrified of custody. She doesn’t know what care would be available in prison and she is effectively on oxygen 24 hours a day.’
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