The girlfriend of a murdering drug dealer who lived a lavish lifestyle while laundering his dirty cash was jailed for three years and four months.
Christopher Kenny, 26, was given a life sentence for the brutal stabbing of Anthony Duffy in Aintree in May last year.
He conspired to murder the 33-year-old drug dealer with Shaun Walmsley, 26, after they found out Duffy was plotting to burgle their £60,000 cannabis farm.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that council worker Courtney Randles, 26, was “living in style” with Kenny in a luxury apartment in the Unity Building in Rumford Place.
The Unity Buildings in Liverpool on the corner of Rumford Place and Chapel Street. Photo by Ian Cooper
Henry Riding, prosecuting, said she earned £18,000 a year but enjoyed expensive holidays abroad, flying first or business class to go on “lavish shopping sprees”.
Randles, of Nickleby Close, Toxteth, posed for selfies on transatlantic flights and took pictures of bags bursting with designer items from Juicy Couture in New York.
Courtney Randles, who was jailed for three years and four months for laundering drug money, flying to America in business class
Mr Riding said: “She could never have believed in a month of Sundays that Kenny’s income had been provided for by his employment as a secondhand car sales person.
“She knew they were major drug dealers, working as far afield as Dover and Aberdeen.
“Kenny was proud of the fact he was such a major drug dealer.
“When police searched their apartment, accounts and tick lists showed a running balance of approximately £475,000 on a day-to-day basis.
“Some £61,970 in cash was hidden in a cavity behind a mirror in their bathroom.”
Courtney Randles took this photograph of her shopping spree in Juicy Couture in New York
Kenny and Walmsley were arrested at Manchester Airport, while trying to flee the country on flights booked on Randles’ laptop.
Police arrested her at work, where she was attempting to arrange “emergency leave”.
Mr Riding said: “It was an attempt by her to join them abroad. In her handbag was £6,796 in cash, which she intended to take out to them.”
A ‘to-do’ list in her handwriting included “money in bank for flights” and “get mirror”.
Text messages revealed Randles attempted to launder hundreds of thousands of pounds for Kenny in 2013.
In August she sent a text to a woman who won £2m on EuroMillions.
She asked if she took her £100,000 to £200,000 in cash, would she make a payment back to them, because Kenny “could not get rid of it”.
Mr Riding said one text referred to “problems Curtis had with money laundering”.
Courtney Randles at Liverpool Crown Court
Randles also messaged a bank clerk, asking how much cash could be deposited without raising suspicion.
She asked the lottery winner if “our Ant” could give her £15,000 in cash, so she could transfer the money back for him to buy a Mercedes-Benz.
Randles secretly looked at council tax records of a man called Brian Thomas, who was minding Kenny and Walmsley’s cannabis farm.
The defendant, wearing blue jeans and a black and white cardigan, cried as she entered court.
She initially claimed she did not know where Kenny’s money was from, but later admitted she knew it was drug money.
Randles pleaded guilty to money laundering, disclosing personal data without consent and possession of the Class C designer drug TFMPP.
Christopher Kenny, 26, of Rumford Place, Liverpool, was jailed for life with a minimum of 30 years in prison
Mark Ford, defending, said Kenny was a “manipulative and controlling individual” whose “malign influence” ruined Randles’ life.
He said: “When the defendant met Kenny she was 23. She was of good character, she had a degree and a decent job.
“She was living a perfectly ordinary life for a happy-go-lucky girl in Liverpool.
“Now she has lost her good character, spent four months in Styal prison and is on the verge of losing her liberty.”
He said when Randles realised he was a drug dealer, she had already fallen in love with him.
Mr Ford said: “He used the emotional ties between them in order to exploit her.
“She had a modest income and the lifestyle he offered must have appeared seductive.
“Had she never met Kenny she would never have appeared before these courts, so his role in her demise is a very significant one.”
Courtney Randles who has been jailed for three years and four months for laundering drug money.
The lawyer said Randles was suffering from depression, had lost two stones in weight and was undergoing counselling.
Judge Clement Goldstone, QC, rejected the argument Randles was “exploited” by Kenny.
Judge Goldstone said: “You were trusted by him and you were steeped in his criminality – not least because you were quite happy to benefit from his ill-gotten gains and enjoyed the lifestyle.
“Although I accept that you that you became involved at his request, you are a well-educated young woman and I am quite satisfied that you went into this with your eyes wide open.”
He said it was significant that Randles continued “trying to line their nest” after the killing.
Judge Goldstone said: “You were quite willing to continue your association with a man who was not simply to your knowledge a successful drug dealer but a murderer.
“I do not consider for one moment that you were coerced, intimidated or exploited – you were greedy.”
Anthony Duffy, 33, from Liverpool, who was stabbed in Aintree and later died in hospital
Kenny, of Tilston Road; Walmsley, of Wallace Street; plus their informant John Hore, 54, of Caldy Road; all Walton; and weapon supplier Kirk Mello, 31, of Manor Grove, Kirkby, were found guilty of murder after an eight-week trial.
Kenny and Walmsley were jailed for life with a minimum of 30 years, Hore to life with a minimum of 21 years and Mello to life with a minimum of 22 years.
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/