MAN `SOLD DRUGS TO HELP MOTHER'

A MAN who claimed he turned to drug dealing to help his mother save the
family home was today starting a 30-month jail sentence.

The mother of 27-year-old Karl Andrew Crozier wept yesterday as Belfast
Crown Court Judge James Brady - who also put him the defendant on probation
for 18 months - declared that the courts must take a severe look at those
supplying drugs.

The court had heard that Crozier's mother needed pounds 10,000 to buy off
his father's share of their Madigan Park home in Carrickfergus following his
parents' divorce.

When police raided the house on May 25 this year, they uncovered a
substantial haul of drugs hidden in his bedroom.

It was also revealed that police not only found both herbal cannabis and
resin, but also speed, 500 Ecstasy tablets and 20 grams of cocaine, which
Crozier claimed was for his own personal use.

Judge Brady heard that Crozier, who was not at home at the time of the
police raid, later gave himself up after being contacted by a neighbour.

During interviews, Crozier claimed he had turned to drug dealing because his
mother needed pounds 10,000 to buy off his father to save the family home
being sold, but that pounds 1,200 found during the raid was his own personal
savings for a holiday to Mexico.

Crozier pleaded guilty to possessing the drugs with intent to supply.