A former school learning assistant sold drugs to a 15-year-old girl despite being aware she was a child, a court has heard.
Bethan Picton, 27, was caught dealing a range of drugs including cocaine, ecstasy, and LSD to customers.
A judge at Swansea Crown Court said it was concerning that somebody who had chosen a career working with children would engage in selling Class A substances.
Picton’s barrister said his client was ‘absolutely terrified’ at the prospect of going to prison.
Alycia Carpanini, prosecuting, said police in Pembrokeshire went to Neyland Marina on April 27 last year acting on intelligence and approached the defendant’s parked car.
Former school learning assistant Bethan Picton, 27, was caught dealing a range of drugs including cocaine, ecstasy, and LSD to customers
Picton was searched and nothing of evidential value was found, but in the footwell of the vehicle was a small amount of cannabis and a grinder.
The defendant was arrested on suspicion of the simple possession of drugs.
A subsequent search of Picton’s home uncovered small amounts of LSD, cocaine and ecstasy, and she was further arrested.
The court heard the defendant’s phone was seized and examined, and on it officers found messages relating to the supply of drugs stretching back to September 2022 with references to ‘acid’, ‘tabs’, ‘pills’ and ‘smoke’ as well as to cocaine.
Among the messages was an exchange between Picton and a 15-year-old girl who appeared to be buying drugs for her 17-year-old partner.
The prosecutor said despite enquiring about the girl’s age the defendant ‘nevertheless continues with the sale’.
Also among the messages was one from a customer complaining about the quality of the drugs the defendant had supplied.
The customer asked: ‘What the f*** was that?’ to which Picton replied: ‘Coke, what else?’
The court heard that an examination of the defendant’s finances showed some £5,700 had been paid into her bank account from third parties over a six-month period.
Picton, of Hakin, Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, had previously pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine, being concerned in the supply of ecstasy, being concerned in the supply of LSD, and being concerned in the supply of cannabis when she appeared in the dock for sentencing.
She has one previous conviction for two offences of drug-driving from 2023.
Jon Tarrant, mitigating, said the defendant was ‘absolutely terrified’ at the prospect of going to prison.
He said his client had made a ‘heinous, one-off mistake’ in getting involved in dealing drugs and she deeply regrets her actions.
The barrister said Picton’s employment record showed she was ‘capable or much, much better things in her life’.
Picton was sentenced to three years at Swansea Crown Court after pleading guilty to several charges of drug dealing, including class A drugs
Judge Catherine Richards told the defendant that those who chose to involve themselves in the dealing Class A drugs know that a custodial sentence is all but inevitable because such substances ruin the lives of users, their families, and their friends, and put huge pressures on public services.
She said it was of concern that someone who had chosen to work with children had decided to engage in such behaviour, and she said she accepted that the defendant’s loss of good character was a punishment in itself.
With a one-quarter discount for her guilty pleas Picton was sentenced to three years in prison.
She will serve up to half that sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
