Parents jailed after £16k of drugs found in family home in Syston

Two parents caught with £16,000 worth of cocaine at their family home have both been jailed for drug dealing.

Veterinary nurse Renee Oliver and her delivery driver husband, Fraser Oliver, were also found to have received stolen goods from three house burglaries.

During a hearing at Leicester Crown Court yesterday, Recorder Peter Coke expressed concerns that 321 grams of cocaine was found in a house where their three children, aged four, eight and 17, were also living.

He said: "It doesn't bear considering what might happen if a child had found it and considered tasting it."

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Police seized the stash of cocaine from underneath clothing in the couple's wardrobe at their home in Field View, Syston, on March 21 last year.

They recovered stolen items – a necklace, an opal ring and a PlayStation console – worth about £1,000.

Officers also found £3,410 in cash, which was confiscated by the court.

Fraser Oliver (30) was jailed for four years, while his 37-year-old wife, who played a lesser role, was jailed for two.

Both admitted being concerned in supplying cocaine, a class A drug, between last January and March, and three counts of handling stolen property.

Both Fraser and Renee, who lost her veterinary job following her arrest, had text messages relating to drug dealing on their mobile phones.

Alan Murphy, prosecuting, said: "The messages showed Mr Oliver was also involved in dealing to others who dealt at street level."

Renee Oliver supplied cocaine, obtained from her husband, to friends.

Elizabeth Power, mitigating for Fraser Oliver, said: "They were two thoroughly decent and hardworking individuals, until this point.

"If it wasn't for financial difficulties and bankruptcy he wouldn't have embarked on this enterprise. He was directed by someone higher up the chain. There was a level of coercion and pressure.

"He was handling them over to other people and dealing to friends of his wife."

Fraser Oliver bought the stolen items found at his home cheaply, as presents for his family, Miss Power told the court.

Ben Isaacs, mitigating for Renee Oliver, said references described her as "a caring mother".

He said: "She used the drug herself but was oblivious to the scale of the operation being run by her husband.

"She buried her head in the sand."

Recorder Coke said: "It's not a case of you fighting an addiction, this was a business."