A WOMAN whose two children drowned in the bath in Alresford 15 years ago has been punished for being involved in the supply of heroin.

It was on June 22, 1999, that Lyn Brownsea slipped and fell while supervising her two children, three-year-old Natasha Russell and 18-month-old Abigail Brownsea, while they bathed at her flat in Windsor Road, Alresford.

When she came around, she found the girls had drowned in the water.

Last Friday Brownsea was one of four defendants at Winchester Crown Court sentenced for charges related to heroin drug supply in Basingstoke.

The court heard Brownsea, 36, and her partner Adrian Twining, 49, had allowed their home in Tewkesbury Close, Popley, to be used by two Londoners to deal heroin in December last year.

Hassan Ocloo, 21, acted as a courier to take drugs from London to Basingstoke while a 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was a street dealer, Claire Marlow, prosecuting, said.

Robert Grey, mitigating for Brownsea, said her client had descended slowly into drug use since the tragic accident, and her and her partner were paid by the Londoners in heroin.

He said: "She's a Class A drug user because of that tragedy and she’s motivated to come off drugs.

"She knows she cannot spend the rest of her life on drugs."

All four defending barristers said their clients were on the bottom rungs of a drugs syndicate known as Diesel.

Judge Jane Miller QC called Brownsea "a sad person".

She said: "I have read of the tragic event in your life and it was that that caused you to go into drug use.

"But you and your partner allowed your house for drug supply. Of course it was the only way you could get the drugs but that's no excuse."

She sentenced Brownsea to 15 months custody, suspended for two years, for allowing her house to be used in the supply of drugs, and for supply of heroin, two offences she had pleaded guilty to at a previous hearing.

Twining had pleaded guilty to allowing his house to be used in the supply of drugs. He received a 24-week sentence, suspended for two years.

Ocloo and the 17-year-old pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. Ocloo, of Hanwell, West London, received a two year sentence, suspended for two years, while the 17-year-old received an intensive supervision and surveillance order for 91 days.