A WOMAN out of prison on day release from a 12-year sentence for drug smuggling was caught dealing heroin and crack cocaine in the centre of Oxford.

Elizabeth Cooey was selling the drugs in conjunction with fiance Richard Sawyer, himself out of prison on licence after being jailed for burglary.

The couple were last night back behind bars after being sentenced at Oxford Crown Court.

Mother-of-two Cooey, of Shelley Close, Risinghurst, was jailed for 12 years in September 2005 for smuggling cocaine, disguised as soap bars, through Gatwick Airport.

On September 3 last year she was out of prison on day release as she was being prepared for release on licence next month.

Henry James, prosecuting, said the 32-year-old was at the Chequers pub, in High Street, that evening with Sawyer before the pair were arrested at the junction of St Michael’s Street and New Inn Hall Street.

Mr James said CCTV showed Sawyer “performing drug transactions on High Street” and text messages found on his phone indicated he was arranging to meet people outside the pub.

Sawyer, of Abingdon Road, was found with two £20 wraps of drugs and Cooey had 40 wraps of heroin and 10 of crack cocaine.

In total the drug stash was worth up to £1,060, Mr James said.

Cooey was convicted by jurors in January of two charges of possessing controlled drugs with intent to supply, while 32-year-old Sawyer had admitted the charges.

Lucy Tapper, defending the couple, said drugs had ruined their lives.

She said: “Their relationship is as close as one could ever hope a relationship to be, despite what life has thrown their way.

“Both want to move on from crime and prison and drugs and settle down into a family life.”

Sawyer, a crack and heroin addict since 2002, has 44 previous convictions for 83 offences.

Miss Tapper said Cooey, who has bi-polar disorder, had been “a model inmate” during her prison sentence and had started a business for prisoners.

She was working for shoe repair chain Timpson during her day release, earning £240 a week.

Judge Anthony King jailed Sawyer for three years.

Cooey was jailed for two years, to run concurrently with her earlier sentence. She is likely to be released in April next year.