A CONVICTED drugs conspirator got his 'missus' to run errands for him, including visits to his alleged cocaine supplier, a court heard.

Sinead Lavelle of Saxon Way, Wychbold, near Droitwich denies being part of the cocaine conspiracy which saw the trafficking of cocaine from the West Midlands into the South West.

Her partner, Gareth Pegler who lived with her at the address in Wychbold, has already admitted the conspiracy and was under surveillance by police, culminating in his arrest.

Lavelle, 33, is one of five defendants on trial either for roles in the cocaine conspiracy or a conspiracy to supply cannabis in Worcestershire.

Cannabis factories found in a bungalow in Orchard Way, Leigh near Worcester, in a room above Forty Fathoms Aquatic in Greatfield Road, Kidderminster and at an address in Queen Elizabeth Road in Kidderminster.

Lavelle denies conspiracy to supply class A drugs (cocaine) between January 1, 2018 and June 1 last year.

Alleged cannabis grower compared himself to Jack and the Beanstalk

As previously reported, the alleged conspiracy involved taking cocaine to Ilfracombe in Devon and collecting cash.

Cocaine 'empire' - how we reported the opening of the case

The trial continued at Worcester Crown Court on Wednesday. Tim Harrington, prosecuting, took the jury through the alleged movements of the defendants, tracking their phones using sell site data (when phones connect to various masts) and looking at the calls and texts made between various alleged conspirators and others who already stand convicted.

At one stage the alleged supplier of cocaine, based in Rubery, told Gareth Pegler in a message: "Don't keep sending different people around my house."

Gareth Pegler replied in another message: "It was my missus mate and my apprentice."

Cell site data showed Lavelle's phone and Gareth Pegler's phone heading south from Saxon Way on December 3 into December 4, 2019. A phone attributed to Lavelle connected with a mast in Wychbold at 7.44pm. Just after 10pm both phones had connected to a mast in Ilfracombe. There were also five connections including voice calls between the phones of Gareth Pegler and Michael Carey, described in the opening as Pegler's 'man in Devon'. At 10.54pm Lavelle and Gareth Pegler were picked up on CCTV in a McDonald's at Barnstaple.

In the early hours of the morning both phones were connecting with a mast in Wychbold, indicating the couple had returned north.

A similar pattern was said to have been repeated on September 1 into September 2, 2019. Lavelle's phone connected to mast in Wychbold at 7.12pm and by 10.05pm was connecting to a mast in Ilfracombe. By the early hours of the following day (12.40am) the phone was back in the Droitwich area.

Cell site phone data showed the same movements to the south west and back to Wychbold on October 13, October 16 and October 18 into October 19, 2019 and into the new year of 2020.

The court heard how convicted cocaine conspirator Louisa Cooper was stopped in a Mini on the M5 near Worcester on February 25 last year.

"In that car was £11,100 in cash in bank notes" said Mr Harrington. The prosecutor said there were calls between Lavelle and Cooper on February 24 last year, the morning before she was stopped.

Heroin was also found in Cooper's possession when she was stopped, the jury was told.

On March 10 last year Gareth Pegler was stopped on the M5 near Bristol with a blue bucket containing cannabis. Mr Harrington said the logs showed calls between Lavelle and Gareth Pegler before he was pulled over.

The trial continues.