Drugs boss said debt was 'everyone's problem'

THE former partner of Danny Cahalane, accused of working with others over an acid attack, said she recalled being contacted by a drugs boss who was owed money, telling her that the debt was "everybody's problem now", which she considered a threat.

- By CARL EVE

Paris Wilson, aged 35, of The Quay, Plymouth, took to the witness box on Friday at Winchester Crown Court where defence barrister Jennifer Knight KC asked her about her relationship with Danny, how they met, their disabled daughter and her complex needs, his drug dealing and a series of messages shared with her mother in the run up to an incident outside her home and the acid attack at his home.

Paris said that Mr Cahalane would frequently lie and was "never where he said he would be" and so childcare arrangements with their daughter were difficult to set up.

However, she also praised his parenting and explained he was effectively the only person other than herself who was capable of caring for their daughter.

The evidence is the latest in the trial of nine people - seven men from London and two women from Plymouth which has been underway at the court since January.

She revealed the unusual way she and Mr Cahalane met during the closing stages of an Open University course, as he contacted her after she had posted an amusing reply to her mother on Facebook. She said he later called her, and they enjoyed a series of lengthy phone calls several nights in a row.

However, she said something was "odd" about the calls and when she suggested they meet up, Danny was "quite sheepish" about it and one night abruptly ending a call, eventually admitted this was because a prison officer had walked past his cell and he was in the last eight weeks of a jail sentence at HMP Dartmoor.