Tulisa pleads not guilty to supplying class A drugs

Singer Tulisa appeared in court today charged with arranging an £860 deal for 13.9 grams of cocaine to be supplied to an undercover reporter.

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by Jessica Anais Rach |
Published on

The incident was caught on camera at the Dorchester Hotel London in May.

Tulisa denied these charges and this morning pleaded not guilty at Westminster Magistrates Court.

In a defence statement her lawyer said:

"This case is not simply about drug supply."

"Tulisa has been charged with a serious criminal offence to which she will plead not guilty.

"As has been widely reported, this entire case has been manufactured by the Sun on Sunday and Mazher Mahmood, sometimes known as the fake sheikh.

"They spent a large amount of their readers' money in flying Tulisa and a number of her friends first class to Las Vegas.

Coombs is charged with supplying the drug
Coombs is charged with supplying the drug

"There, Mahmood posed as a film producer offering her a £3 million film contract.

"This case is not simply about drug supply.

"It is about the limits which we set on the conduct of journalists.

"The media have rightly been criticised in recent years for gross invasion into the private life of others.

Supplying Class A drugs can carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

"Tulisa is the latest in a long line of people who have been treated as fodder by greedy newspapers.

"This was a deliberate attempt to target a young woman who is all the more vulnerable because of her celebrity status.

"The law clearly forbids such conduct on the part of police.

However District Judge Riddle said while the experience must have been "unpleasant" it did not override the interests of open justice.

The secret recording of Tulisa allegedly 'fixing' a drug deal

She appeared alongside rapper Mike GLC, also known as Michael Coombs, 35, of Enfield, north London, at Westminster Magistrates Court.

Coombs is charged with supplying the drug, a charge which he denies.

If found guilty, supplying Class A drugs can carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

The former X Factor judge is ordered to appear at Southwark Crown Court for a next appearance on January 9, as her case is too serious to be dealt with in a magistrates' court.

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