Mum on trial accused of living luxury lifestyle funded by crime
14.09.2022 - 21:21
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A mum has gone on trial accused of living a luxury lifestyle funded by crime. Prosecutors claim Royal Mail worker Zoe Rule was living 'far beyond her means' and had designer items from high end brands including Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Canada Goose and Christian Louboutin.
Jurors heard her partner, father and two brothers were involved in a huge plot to grow cannabis in a mill in Harpurhey said to be worth £3 million in annual turnover. A police drugs expert described the set up at Sovereign Mill as one of the most sophisticated he'd ever encountered.
Ms Rule, 31, is not accused of being involved with the operation at the mill, but is alleged to have helped her partner Leslie Fowler in a 'sideline' cannabis grow at their home in Collyhurst, as well as possessing criminal property. She has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
READ MORE: Dad's double life running £40m crime gang exposed after cops hack his phone and raid his luxury home
Manchester Crown Court heard that almost £4,000 worth of the class B drug was discovered by police in Ms Rule's home in September 2019. Prosecuting, Andy Evans claimed that Ms Rule had assisted her partner in the growing of the drug, and said her fingerprint had been found on a plant pot.
Messages between the couple were heard by jurors. In one, Fowler told Ms Rule: "I'm doing this for all of us, so we have a better future."
In a later message, Ms Rule told her partner: "Leslie I'm dead stressed out, one died and one is dying." Asked what she believed the message meant, Detective Constable Helen Rutter of Greater Manchester Police told jurors: "In my opinion that is in regard to the plants that were found at the address."
During a search of the home almost £30,000 worth of designer goods