EX-MODEL IS JAILED FOR HAVING COCAINE FOR SUPPLY

A former model was sentenced to six months in prison at Dublin
District Court yesterday for having cocaine for supply in a Dublin
hotel room.

Samantha Blandford Hutton (31) was convicted of the offence last
January but sentencing had been held over pending the production of a
probation report.

Mr Alan Toal, defending, had asked the court for a non-custodial
sentence, saying his client was "vulnerable" and would benefit from
further counselling.

However, Judge Murrough Connellan said there should be equality before
the law and "people who sell drugs should go to prison.

"This lady has had advantages in her life not afforded to others, yet
she has decided to involve herself in this trade," he said.

The defendant had claimed the cocaine, found in the room in Jurys
Towers Hotel, Ballsbridge, on December 2nd, 1997, was for her personal
use.

Gardai discovered three tinfoil "wraps" of the drug under a sofa in
the room along with a plastic bag with a small amount of cocaine in
her handbag, and a list with names, dates, weights and amounts.

Mr Toal said his client was "a girl who has been in trouble for some
period of time". After graduating from college, "she went into a
steady spiral down" and became involved in drug abuse. However, the
Coolmine report stated she now had the problem under control.

He added that she had been subjected to "unkind, adverse and
scurrilous treatment by certain elements of the media". He said the
court was obliged to take a dim view of her treatment outside the
court and, with that in mind, he asked to submit letters vouching for
her character which were written by her mother and other people.

Mr Toal said his client "is vulnerable. She always has been vulnerable
and she will continue to be vulnerable." He invited the court to
consider sentencing her to community service.

Judge Connellan said nobody's name had been blackened before his
court. He rejected the request to submit letters, saying if anyone
wished to make statements about her character they should step forward
and do so.

He continued: "There is no doubt that certain people come before the
court and one can deduce a certain lack of education that contributed
to them slipping into the role they fulfil. But that it certainly not
the case here.

"This lady benefited from a perfectly good upbringing and education.
She is an intelligent lady, yet she involves herself in the drugs
scene or culture."

He said there was no need to provide a lecture on the menace of drugs
in society. It was not accepted by the public, the law or the courts.

The judge struck out the less serious charge of possession and fixed
surety in the event of an appeal in her own bond of pounds 100 plus an
independent surety of pounds 350.

Previously, the court heard Hutton had a conviction for burglary
dating back to September 20th, 1989, when she received a 12-month
suspended sentence.

Yesterday's sentencing brought to an end a case stretching back to
early last year. It was adjourned several times after Hutton's lawyers
pursued the possibility of having a Sunday newspaper cited for contempt.