TWO women implicated in a massive drugs trial have denied knowing their friends were peddling crack and heroin on the streets of Basildon.
Aisha Aiden, 24, spent thousands of pounds on a “princess lifestyle” with money given to her by her boyfriend and alleged Bush Boys ringleader, Mohammed Hassan, 31.
However, she denies laundering up to £50,000 of drugs money through her bank accounts and claims she thought the cash from Hassan came from his job as painter and decorator.
Co-accused Romy Bullen, 25, of Rider Close, Sidcup, Kent, admits driving members of the Bush Boys from London to Basildon, but claims she did not suspect they were delivering drugs.
Both women deny conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and heroin.
Oliver Weetch, defending Aden, told Basildon Crown Court as a youngest sibling Aden had been used to having things bought for her and so did not question large deposits put into her bank account by Hassan.
He said: “She led a princesstype lifestyle. This is why when she was given things, it was not out of the ordinary.
“For her, it was the way things had always been.”
Mr Weetch told the court Aden –asocial policy and crime student at Leeds University – had been cheating on her boyfriend for part of their relationship with a rich businessman she referred to as Sulaiman.
She claims some of the larger cash deposits in her bank account were from him.
Mr Weetch argued none of the 3,000 text messages downloaded from Aden’s mobile phones mentioned drugs or drug dealing.
He also questioned why she had not destroyed her mobile phones in the period between Hassan’s arrest in November 2012 and her arrest on February 13 this year.
He argued Aden, of Sky Plaza, Leeds, had failed to destroy 188 receipts for designer clothes, including an £810 Louis Vuitton handbag, because she did not suspect the cash used to pay for the goods had come from drugs.
Hassan and co-defendants Perry Bohm, 19, of Burrage Road, Woolwich, and Thomas Symons, 19, of Dawson Close, Woolwich, all deny conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine.
The trial continues.
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