Sara Shea, 30, who admitted money laundering, was jailed for two years by Liverpool Crown Court.

Shea sashayed through Liverpool society draped head-to-toe in designer labels alongside her husband Keith, 36, a bullet-headed gangster who moved drugs worth millions around the country. In two years they spent £100,000 on his and hers diamond-encrusted watches, thought nothing of blowing £850 on Cristal champagne, and were planning a move to an £800,000 mansion in Caldy, Wirral, known as Footballers' Row. Sara Shea, 30, who admitted money laundering, was jailed for two years by Liverpool Crown Court. The judge said he hoped that the sentence would deter other families of criminals from encouraging and supporting their activities. “Your husband was a drug trafficker on a huge scale yet you chose to turn a blind eye and to ask no questions,” David Harris, QC, said. Shea's life of luxury ended in June 2007 when her husband was arrested in the act of moving cocaine and Ecstasy with a street value of £4.5 million. He was convicted of drug trafficking and jailed for 15 years.
When police raided their home in Wallasey, Merseyside, they recovered a Scorpion machine pistol and other firearms but were astonished by the treasure trove of goods amassed from the world's fashion houses. Officers found boxes of Rolex, Patek Philippe and Chopard watches and Christian Dior and Chanel jewellery worth hundreds of thousands of pounds scattered from room to room. All had been bought in cash so as not to leave a paper trail. Stuffed into a cupboard were designer handbags worth £12,000.

Detectives pieced together a life of spending, with holidays in Monte Carlo, Mexico and Marbella. A photograph showed the couple enjoying a honeymoon stroll on a beach beside the Sandy Lane Hotel in Barbados. Flights alone cost £12,500. They once took a chauffeur-driven Mercedes from their home to Claridge's in London where they spent £6,000 on a weekend stay. The bill for a meal at the Oxo Tower came to £1,095.

Merseyside Police hope that the prosecution of drug dealers' partners will send out a message that officers will pursue not only criminals but their wives and wider families who have been happy to enjoy the fruits of their criminality. Diane Smith, 52, the lover of another drug trafficker, Silvano Turchett, has already been given a 45-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, on a similar charge of looking after watches worth £42,000 for her boyfriend. Detective Constable Elaine Moore, in charge of the money-laundering inquiry codenamed Operation Rockwood, said that the police were determined to strip the couple of the proceeds of crime, even if they had to wait until Shea was released from prison. “We want to show that crime does not pay,” she said. “Instead of going to a restaurant at the top of the Oxo Tower, Shea is now eating off a tin plate ... Anybody, whether family member or partner, should remember one thing – Merseyside Police will be relentless in hunting them down and bringing them to justice.”
The Sheas' detached home, with its wall-mounted Bang & Olufsen television in the steam room, has long been repossessed, along with their collection of high-performance cars. A forthcoming confiscation case is expected to strip the couple of their remaining fortune. Shea made it clear to the court before she was jailed that she intended to divorce her husband and find a job on her release. She worked in Debenhams in the run-up to her court appearance. Merseyside Police have seized more criminals' assets than any other force apart from the Metropolitan Police, securing nearly £5.5 million cash and confiscating goods worth £12 million in the past two years.

The ill-gotten gains Among the items found at the Sheas' home was a collection of designer handbags worth £12,000 The couple once took a chauffeur-driven Mercedes from their home to Claridge's in London where they spent £6,000 on a weekend stay and a meal in Gordon Ramsay's in-house restaurant They ran up a £1,095 bill at the Oxo Tower restaurant in Central London, including £850 on a bottle of Cristal champagne On their driveway stood a £110,000 Aston Martin, a £46,500 4x4 BMW X5 and a Range Rover They took guests to £5,000 hospitality packages at the Open golf at Hoylake, rock concerts at the MEN Arena and other events
Shea was arrested before they took a £33,000 cruise to the World Cup cricket in Barbados and a grand prix trip to Monaco for which a £6,000 cash deposit was paid
They spent £100,000 on his and hers watches that were encrusted with diamonds. Police officers also found boxes packed full of Rolex, Patek Philippe and Chopard watches