"Prison for Mother who used kid to deal drugs" - Hartlepool

[bi11i]

http://www.hartlepooltoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1109&ArticleID=612487


PRISON FOR MOTHER WHO USED KID TO DEAL DRUGS
EVIL mum Donna Horrigan was jailed for two years after she used a three-year-old child to peddle drugs to undercover police. Wicked Horrigan was among five members of the same family business including her parents Gerard and Christine, brothers Darren and uncle Patrick who between them unwittingly supplied heroin cannabis and amphetamines to three police officers posing as students.

Yesterday the Horrigan family and Donna s common-law husband, Craig Woodier, were jailed for a total of 16 years by Judge Peter Fox QC.

Teesside Crown Court had been told how the plain clothes detectives were amazed to find cannabis deals going on in front of young children during visits to the Horrigan s home.

On one occasion officers were handed drugs through a reinforced iron-grille at the rear of the family s terraced house in Parliament Road by a child.

Children were also present when Donna and boyfriend Craig Woodier handed heroin to a policewoman from a car.
Graham Reeds, prosecuting, said officers pretending to be drug-hungry students bought ten bags of cannabis, amphetamine and heroin during a string of visits to the house and another property between September 22 and December 1, 1999.

Yesterday Donna Horrigan, 24, of Dalcross Court, Hemlington, admitted supplying heroin and cannabis and was jailed for two years.

Gerard Horrigan, 45, of Parliament Road, Middlesbrough, was jailed for four years after he admitted eight charges of supplying cannabis and one of being concerned in the supply of heroin.

His wife, Christine Horrigan, 44, of the same address, admitted one charge of supplying a ten block of cannabis and was jailed for nine months.

Darren Horrigan, 21, of Meath Street, Middlesbrough, was jailed for 15 months after he admitted supplying cannabis and amphetamines.

His uncle, Patrick Horrigan, 40 of Outram Street, Middlesbrough, admitted the supply of amphetamine sulphate and was jailed for four years.

Craig Woodier, 22, of Leven Street, Middlesbrough, admitted supplying heroin. He was also jailed for four years.
Stephen Ashurst, for Donna Horrigan, said she accepted that drug dealing had gone on in front of young children and that she d had a hard life growing up.

Gerard Horrigan claimed he had turned to smoking cannabis to ease pain he suffered in a car crash in which he lost his eye in 1993.

Judge Fox said: A really aggravating feature of this case is that . . . children were being exposed to this and, on one occasion, one was used to supply cannabis resin.

The Horrigan family wept and hugged each other as they were sentenced and friends screamed and cried in disbelief at the length of the prison terms.
20 March 2001

[candy]

It is unfortunate that their are folks out there willing to put there children in harms way to protect themselves.
My kids have never seen me do drugs, nor have I ever allowed anyone else to get high in my home. Bad enough I did it while my kids were in the other room, but to expose them to it firsthand, never.
I have seen enough of the ravages when working pediatrics and there is nothing worse than watching a newborn go through withdrawals. It is a double edged sword. I know how hard it is to kick, but I also have worked with these infants and I get mad nonetheless.
It is when children die needlessly because of the carelessness of their parents, that enrages us. We all need to be responsible for our own actions, myself included. I just made sure I was extra careful and not expose my kids to my lifestyle. I know some would argue that just being in the house getting high was irresponsible and I won't justify it. But, take some precautions at the very least.
Wow, to have your 3 year old peddling your dope for you......Shit, my kids were just getting potty trained at that age. To think they would be doing something like that just blows my mind.

[duke_nemmerle]

It is unfortunate that their are folks out there willing to put there children in harms way to protect themselves.
My kids have never seen me do drugs, nor have I ever allowed anyone else to get high in my home. Bad enough I did it while my kids were in the other room, but to expose them to it firsthand, never.
I have seen enough of the ravages when working pediatrics and there is nothing worse than watching a newborn go through withdrawals. It is a double edged sword. I know how hard it is to kick, but I also have worked with these infants and I get mad nonetheless.
It is when children die needlessly because of the carelessness of their parents, that enrages us. We all need to be responsible for our own actions, myself included. I just made sure I was extra careful and not expose my kids to my lifestyle. I know some would argue that just being in the house getting high was irresponsible and I won't justify it. But, take some precautions at the very least.
Wow, to have your 3 year old peddling your dope for you......Shit, my kids were just getting potty trained at that age. To think they would be doing something like that just blows my mind.

As nearly always I couldn't agree with you more candy. It is always beyond tragic and irresponsible when a person can not reconcile their drug use with parental obligations. My dad has smoked marijuana all his life as did my step dad for a while, and I was clueless to this until I was about 20, which is how it should be. I'm glad they did it this way, maybe it wouldn't have made me a worse person, but I can't imagine involving your kids to the degree described in this article

[candy]

As you posted Duke, it is terrible when parents involve their children, especially to the degree this mother did.
I realize that at times life can become difficult and things may get out of control, but to use your kids to peddle drugs....Well, IMO, going way to far. Sure no one wants to go to jail for doing something illegal, but imagine if one of those kids were to have been hurt or killed.

I am certainly not one to judge, especially when it involves those who use drugs. But, to knowingly put your kids in danger is offensive. And IMO, she knew the dangers she was putting the kid(s) in.

I have made every effort possible to make sure my kids never were put in harms way. True, I was still using drugs and I won't try to justify that. I never spent money on drugs when it went for food and I never allowed it to get to a point where we lost our home or our things. I may have pawned a few items, but they were always mine.

I always looked at it this way. What difference is it if I go in the backyard and smoke a joint or sit in front of the T.V. getting drunk? My kids think I am out having a cigarette. Do they need to sit and watch me drink all night? So I get a buzz, they think I'm funny and they know no difference.
Even with opiates, my kids never have known and I was able to keep it from my own husband for quite some time. No one would of known had I not got fired from work. Were divorced now, but I did all I could to make sure it did not affect those around me. In some ways it always will, but IMO as a parent there are things you can do to safe-guard your kids in some way.

There really is no way this woman can justify her behavior.

[duke_nemmerle]

Yeah I had started out way more critical but then I realized that would be hypocritical and way judgemental so I cut it back a little bit, I think your post more accurately reflects how I feel about it

[katomic]

very sad cos what future would the kids of had? they would have probaly turnd in to cunts and thats the last thing this world needs is more cunts.

i herd a sad story on my travels that a gangmember had his kids making meth for him im told they where very good at it

sad

[Coddfish]

very sad cos what future would the kids of had? they would have probaly turnd in to cunts and thats the last thing this world needs is more cunts.

i herd a sad story on my travels that a gangmember had his kids making meth for him im told they where very good at it

sad
People like that aren't fucked up druggies, they are fucked up people who happen to be involved with drugs. Smoking pot/doing dope doesn't make scumbags, the scumbag behavior is just exhibiting itself as endangering children in the drug scene. Don't feel like a hypocrite for passing judgment on these people because they are involved in drugs! Would you feel the same way if you owned a gun and you heard that a kid was murdered by a gunshot in another city? You'd probably want the book thrown at that piece of shit who shot the kid. Period. No reservations. These fuckups give responsible users a bad name when we really have very little in common with them.
I am a libertarian at heart, so I don't judge people for what they do as long as it doesn't harm anyone else. There are two qualifications for this: the delinquency of children and animal cruelty. Both are inexcusable.

[candy]

If I did not say so in my last post, this Mom deserves what ever she gets and I do hope they throw the book at her.
Responsible users are all around us and I consider myself to be one of them. My kids as I said, have never been in harms way and I would never allow anyone whom I felt was irresponsible to be around my kids. I actually don't let anyone else use in my home, period. I can only be responsible for myself and if I fuck up they are my consequences, but I don't take that chance with anyone else and my kids don't need to be thrown in the middle.

[msdope]

As mothers we are not suppossed to have any faults let alone drug use. Society really comes down on mothers and it carries an entirely different stigma as opposed to men using.

From where I live it's actually family affairs, and neighborhood affairs as to where drugs are manufactured, packaged, and peddled. These kids don't blink an eye and it never enters anyones heads that these kids are in danger. It's the way they make their livings, and it gets passed on to the next generation.

I've seen many, many mom's with their kids in tow in dangerous, deadly areas. I always wondered wouldn't it have been safer if they just left the kid at home alone for the time it took to cop?

I guess it's like anything else though. You do something plain insane, and it's tough, and the more you do it then it just becomes an every day affair. Thankfully like Candy said I never had to traipse around looking for dope pulling along my kids. I can say and I am mortified by it that I could have OD'd behind the bedroom door, and the kids could have found me. I have to live with that.

So realistically as memebers of a screwed up, lousy society we should condemn this lady for what she did. I ask then why can't we condemn men that do the very same thing? Cause we are mom's that's why. I'm in no position to judge anyone ever.

[katomic]

People like that aren't fucked up druggies, they are fucked up people who happen to be involved with drugs. Smoking pot/doing dope doesn't make scumbags, the scumbag behavior is just exhibiting itself as endangering children in the drug scene


codfish did i say that? you got it wrong iam a " so called druggie" as you yanks put it and have been for almost ten years now and im not a cunt nor are any of my friends.
you got it wrong.
im talking about cunts, people full a hate, who make there 10 year kids make meth, im talking about bad/evil parenting which endanger and encourage there kids to be ‘hard’ and to rob others and don’t encourage education and good values ect.

[Coddfish]

Kat,
you may have misunderstood my point because you argued my REAL point very well. The point is that most cunts don't have anything to do with drugs. They find ways to show that. In the case mentioned in the first post, that woman was a scumbag not because she used drugs, but because she put her kids at risk. I think it a shame that she was involved with drugs because it makes many people associate us responsible users with her. In HER case the scumbag behavior exhibited itself not by drug use, but by endangering her kids. She sucks. Period. She just happened to be involved in drugs. I hope this is clearer. I agree with virtually everything you post here, and I thiink this is another example of that. I'm sorry I wasn't more clear or if I misunderstood you. I think I was looking more at Duke's and Candy's posts above. It's not good to be judgmental, but I don't think they should feel hypocritical for thinking this woman was bad. She had one thing in common with us. The same could be said about the 'father' you mentioned in your post. Someone HAS to judge parents when kids are seriously harmed physically or psychologically, because the kids can't do it themselves. By the way, I have been a druggie at least as long as you have.

[candy]

Unfortunately, as Mother's we are held in a different regard as father's. We are seen as nurturing and when a mother acts as this woman did she is seen as some kind of monster. Whether or not it was drugs or some other kind of illegal activity, she was endangering her children and deserves to be punished. As MsDope said, I as well,never dragged my kids along to score. I have every bit of empathy for those who struggle with addiction, I am one myself, but, when it endangers the lives of someone's kids, as this mom did, it upsets me.
As much as I sheltered my kids from my own drug use and they were never aware of it, I still used in my home and that there put them in some sort of danger.
And I don't pat myself on the back for keeping it a secret from them. What I did do, is to take every extra precaution to make sure that I kept others out of my home that were using and that I never went to far with the amount I used, making it impossible to care for them or putting myself in a situation where I could of OD'd. Certainly, situations could of happened and I would of had to live with the consequences, but I did what I could to make it as safe as possible. Does not make it right and I certainly don't justify my behavior, I am only pointing out that there are responsible users out there who are conscientious when it comes to their use of drugs and don't put their kids in the middle.
I am certainly no hypocrit when it comes to myself and my own use of drugs. But, I do however feel that there is a line one can cross and when it involves putting your kids in a situation that clearly spells out danger and neglect, that is an act that deserves punishment.