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Drug addict Tabitha Saker tied up by mum now jailed

Canterbury Crown Court
Canterbury Crown Court

A young woman whose drug addiction led to the jailing of her concerned mother is now behind bars herself.

Julia Saker, 50, was sent to prison after trying to stop daughter Tabitha from buying drugs by gagging and binding her.

But now Tabitha, 20, has been remanded into custody for breaching a community order imposed last November for handling stolen goods.

She arrived at Canterbury Crown Court for her hearing - and went into the ladies' toilets as the case was called.

Security staff were alerted and when she was later searched in court, staff discovered she had been carrying syringes despite claiming she hadn't taken drugs for three days.

Now a judge has rejected a call to grant bail after hearing she had failed to attend meetings with probation officers.

He remanded Saker, of Malvern Road, Temple Ewell, near Dover, in custody for five weeks pending another probation report.

Judge Michael O'Sullivan asked her: "I understand that you were searched by the prison service when you arrived. Is that correct?"

Tabitha Saker replied: "Yes".

Judge O'Sullivan: "And did you have anything on you, such as a syringe?"

Saker: "Oh yes.. I did."

She then offered to undergo a drugs test immediately - but the judge ruled that if she was granted bail she would not turn up for any meeting with the probation service.

Saker's mother was jailed in February last year after she bound and gagged her heroin-addicted daughter to try to stop her buying drugs.

Julia Saker, 50, was convicted of false imprisonment after she restrained Tabitha, who was then 19, believing she was leaving the house to meet a dealer.

Mrs Saker, from Dover, had discovered that her daughter was taking drugs in October 2010.

When she suspected Tabitha was about to buy more drugs she tried to stop her going out by taping her legs together round her jeans the help of a friend.

But the pair were arrested after Tabitha dialed 999 and police heard her screaming at them to "stop hurting" her and repeatedly claiming she "couldn't breathe".

Mrs Saker's husband Tim had said the decision to jail his wife had left his daughter in a more vulnerable position. He said: "It has meant that Tabitha has had very minimal supervision."

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