A man and a woman from Bradford who ordered a sedative known as “liquid ecstasy” under the guise of car cleaning products so they could sell it to fund their drug habits have avoided immediate imprisonment.

Sentencing Sarah Baldwin and Lee Moorby at Bradford Crown Court, Mr Recorder Bryan Cox said both would benefit from therapeutic help rather than jail time.

Moorby was handed a 15-month prison sentence suspended for two years, and Baldwin was given a two-year community order.

Both were ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and to undertake 12 rehabilitation activity requirement days. The court previously heard that two separate parcels sent from the Netherlands and addressed to Baldwin and Moorby were intercepted by UK Border Force officers at East Midlands Airport on April 18 and 25, 2021.

Inside were bottles of a liquid drug called Gamma-butyrolactone, known as GBL.

The parcel addressed to Baldwin, now 47, contained five bottles of which four contained the controlled drug.

The parcel addressed to Moorby, now 43, contained three bottles of which two contained the same liquid drug.

Both parcels were sent to an address at Salt Street in Bradford.

In total the six bottles contained more than 3,000ml of the drug, which forensic analysis revealed to be GBL.

In a statement read to the court a drug expert said: “Relatively little is known about the use of GBL. It does have some legitimate uses but is a controlled drug of Class C when imported for the purposes of human consumption.

“It is a sedative, which is known as liquid ecstasy due its euphoric effects and the typical dose is between 0.5ml and 1.5ml. The street value is £10 per 10ml.”

The total street value of the drugs seized was £3,080 based on 308 street deals.

Baldwin and Moorby were both arrested on April 21, 2021. They answered “no comment” during interviews.

Baldwin handed over her mobile phone, which contained messages “indicative of the onward supply” of GBL and an acknowledgement that her parcels had been seized by customs.

Bradford Crown Court, where the hearing took placeBradford Crown Court, where the hearing took place (Image: Newsquest)

A search of their address revealed invoices addressed to Baldwin dating back to 2018 for “car cleaning products”, as well as similar invoices to Moorby in 2021, all from addresses in the Netherlands.

Both later pleaded guilty to being concerned in the fraudulent evasion of a prohibition on the importation of a Class C drug.

The court heard that Baldwin had one previous conviction for an unrelated offence and that Moorby’s criminal record included possession of controlled drugs, possession with intent to supply the depressant drug GHB, and battery.

The court heard that Baldwin, of Central Avenue, Shipley, was selling GBL in order to fund her crack cocaine habit and that there was no other profit or significant financial reward involved.

She said a drug expert had said little is known about GBL and limited information is available as to its street value.

The court heard that Moorby, of Salt Street, Bradford, had the drug for his personal use and that anything left over would have been sold to enable him to buy more drugs.

However he was said to be clean after suffering from a drug addiction for the last 14 years, which was described as “a huge achievement” for him.

It was argued that the financial advantage from selling GBL had been to meet their own drug use.

In sentencing the duo Recorder Cox said he took note of their guilty pleas as well as the delay in the matter coming before the courts.

He said: “It is important that you take advantage of the help that is available for you. It is an opportunity to put this behind you and to get on with your lives.”

He ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs seized as well as Baldwin’s mobile phone.