Leeds dealer caught after being sent by gang bosses to peddle drugs in Blackpool
He was caught at the resort less than two days after arriving
A Leeds man was sent by gang bosses to peddle heroin and crack cocaine on the streets of Blackpool.
Josh Gildea, 23, and his accomplice Tommy-Lee Barry had been in the resort for less than two days when they were arrested by police with a stash of Class A drugs.
It was alleged they had been “cuckooing” two local addicts by setting up camp in their home.
Gildea, of Waincliffe Place, Leeds, was sent to prison for 43 months after pleading guilty to possessing heroin and crack with intent to supply.
Berry, 20, who was on the run from police in West Yorkshire, was sentenced to 38 months after he admitted two counts of possession with intent to supply Class A and also possessing criminal property - more than £2,600 in drugs cash.
Preston Crown Court was told police on duty in Blackpool spotted a man and a woman, both known drug users, engaged in a drug deal outside a property in Park Road.
Officers entered the flat and found Gildea and Berry inside with quantities of heroin and crack cocaine with an estimated street value of £1,160.
They also discovered a Nokia burner phone next to Berry on the sofa. It was found to contain drug-dealing messages.
There was also evidence that the pair had been intimidating the addicts to operate from their home.
Berry, a scaffolder of no fixed address, was said to have fled across the Pennines to Blackpool because he was wanted by West Yorkshire Police on suspicion of drugs offences. He had only been in the town for about 12 hours and had slept rough before he was arrested.
The court heard he had been on police bail at the time but had not been charged and no action had since been taken in that case.
Gildea was said to have a criminal record which included 13 previous offences, mainly for driving matters and dishonesty. He had one conviction for possessing Class A drugs.
Barrister Jimmy Vakil, for Gildea, said his client did not seek to deny the drugs offences, although he was not charged with possessing the cash found in the flat.
He had travelled to Blackpool on April 23 this year, was arrested within two days and had been behind bars on remand for more than five months.
“He has accepted joint possession of the drugs in the flat, but not the money,” he told Judge Paul Hodgkinson.
“The suggestion of cuckooing is unsupported by evidence and it is speculation. Because drug users are seen in an address with the defendants, there is no suggestion they are being put on unwillingly.”
Mr Vakil said Gildea started taking cocaine following the death of his grandmother and at the time of the offences in Blackpool “he was using more cocaine than he disclosed (to police)”.
But he was now clean after five months on remand. And that time in custody had “given him the opportunity to reflect and re-evaluate".
“He wants to turn his life around and move forward. He is genuine and serious. He is determined not to re-offend. He has had a substantial taste of custody and he will not be going back to be with those involved in crime.”
Anthony Parkinson, representing Berry, said immaturity had played a part in the 20-year-old's offending. But having been in prison on remand since his arrest in April it had been a “salutary lesson for him about what happens when you get involved in such offending”.
Berry, he said, had a gambling addiction which had led to him being involved “in this sorry mess”.
Mr Parkinson added: “There is no evidence of exploitation of others or him using others in the (drug) trade. What there is evidence of is that they had set up base in someone else’s property.
“There are other people above these two. They were sent to Blackpool to trade drugs. It was a relatively small amount of money compared to those further up the chain.”
Judge Hodgkinson said both men had played a significant role in supplying direct to the public and were expecting a financial gain from the operation.
He said the case was serious, but it was aggravated by the fact that they had “exercised control over people in their premises to deal drugs”.
The judge ordered the drugs to be destroyed and the £2,663 in cash confiscated.