Drug dealer who killed addict jailed for 21 years

A 22-year-old drug dealer convicted of murdering an addict who stole from her has been jailed for 21 years.

Tuche Coskun had waited for Gavin Hubbard, 42, before stabbing him with a "large kitchen knife" at the doorway to his home in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, on 19 May 2024, jurors heard.

Coskun, of Central Avenue, Enfield, north London, had denied murder and said she acted in self-defence.

Jurors had returned a guilty verdict in November 2024 after a two-week trial at St Albans Crown Court.

Coskun was sentenced at St Albans Crown Court on Thursday.

Judge Jonathan Mann imposed a mandatory life sentence and said Coskun would serve a minimum of 21 years before being eligible for release.

He said he accepted that what Coskun, who was 21 when she killed Mr Hubbard, had done was "out of character" and was "some sort of revenge attack".

But he said Mr Hubbard, a father and grandfather, had suffered 22 "stabs and slashes".

The judge added: "Only a person intent on causing death would strike so many times."

Barrister Neil Moore, prosecuting, said Coskun had armed herself with a "large kitchen knife" and acted in "revenge" after drugs were stolen from her.

He said Mr Hubbard has suffered about 20 "sharp force" injuries, nine of which were "severe".

Mr Hubbard had stolen drugs from Coskun - and heroin worth nearly £500 had been found in his sock, Mr Moore said.

George Carter-Stephenson KC, defending, told the court how Coskun had been "seduced" into drug dealing after losing a Tesco warehouse job, and wanted to help her "struggling" mother.

Coskun had been robbed four times, and three of those robberies had been "orchestrated" by Mr Hubbard, he said.

"This case is very unusual because of its background," he told the judge.

"She is not a violent person."

He added: "This is very much a one-off set of circumstances which is never likely to be repeated."

In a victim impact statement read out by Mr Moore, Mr Hubbard's mother, Valerie, 80, told the judge that her son had become addicted to drugs after a number of personal difficulties.

She said: "I find it hard knowing the way Gavin died."

Her son had once wanted to be a policeman or a professional footballer, she said.

She said he was "funny", "affectionate" and "very loved".

Coskun had admitted possessing heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply.

The judge imposed a 45-month jail term for each of those offences.

He said they would run concurrently with each other and concurrently with the sentence for murder.

The judge said Coskun had already served 243 days in custody on remand pending sentence and that period would form part of the 21-year term.

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