AN OXFORD student who sold cocaine and heroin to fund her degree course has been jailed alongside her “father figure” partner in crime.

Kimona Ward, 25, was studying computer sciences at Oxford Brookes University while selling drugs with 55-year-old Wilber Jurdine.

The pair, who rented a bedsit in Botley, were caught by police in possession of heroin and cocaine with a street value of more than £6,600.

Jurdine was convicted of two charges of being concerned with the supply of controlled drugs, while Ward – who gave evidence against Jurdine – admitted two charges of supplying a controlled drug and two of possession of drugs with intent to supply.

At a sentencing hearing at Oxford Crown Court on Friday, John Upson, prosecuting, said the duo were pulled over in a car by police on March 15.

A search of the vehicle and their flat found 15.2 grams of heroin and 72.3 grams of cocaine, along with more than £1,000 in cash.

Mr Upson said the street value of the cocaine was up to £5,540 and about £1,130 for the heroin.

Stephen Parker, defending Jurdine, of Brecknock Road, in North London, said his client, who is a US citizen, had only returned to Britain after a two-year absence on March 5 and was picked up from the airport by Ward before they began selling the drugs.

He said Jurdine, who had no previous convictions, no longer wanted to stay in the UK.

Lucy Tapper, defending Ward, said her client was in the second year of her course and was “somebody who has always tried to pull herself up by her bootstraps and make the best of what she’s got, however little that may be”.

She said Ward, of Clover Close, Botley, was desperate for money and made a “gross error of judgment”. Miss Tapper added: “She’s a very bright, very sparky, very likeable person.”

Sentencing Jurdine to five years in jail, Recorder Steven Gasztowicz said: “The quantities that were found and the money that was found give an indication of the sort of scale.

“This was not a discovery of a few wraps of Class As resulting from your own addiction, this was a significant supply of two types of Class A drugs.

“You acted as a father figure to her (Ward) and it was with your encouragement and participation that Miss Ward made these sales.”

Mr Gasztowicz jailed Ward for three years and told her she was attempting to make “easy money out of addicts”.

Oxford Brookes University said it was unable to comment on the case, but said it took a “zero tolerance” approach to drugs.

A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing to recover some of the pair’s illegal earnings will be held on December 16.