A crystal meth dealer incriminated himself after leaving behind £35,000 worth of the drug in a TK Maxx bag in the back of a taxi.
Sean O'Neill also accidentally left ketamine and cannabis in the car which he had used to fetch cardboard boxes, believed to contain bottles of GBL - another illegal drug. O'Neill had booked a taxi on December 18 last year to drop him off at the Lumiere Building in Manchester.
Earlier that day the 29-year-old dad-of-two went to a storage facility in Salford where he was handed a red TK Maxx bag which he put in the rear of the taxi. Prosecutor David Watson told Liverpool Crown Court O'Neill later rang the cab firm after realising he had left the bag of drugs inside the taxi.
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Police waited for him to arrive but he sent another cab to collect them though the driver, who O’Neill used as a runner for drugs and cash, was not allowed to do so. The drugs he left behind in the bag included 181 grams of methylamphetamine, known as crystal meth, 261 grams of ketamine worth £3,680 and 19 grams of cannabis. A set of scales was also found with traces of those drugs.
Police identified O'Neill as the taxi passenger as he had used his mobile number to book the mini cab. He was not arrested for a considerable time, and though he knew he was wanted, continued to deal drugs.
Mr Watson said O'Neill's phone was never recovered but in messages from an acquaintance’s mobile he referred to working for "Carl" and living at his penthouse in the Lumiere building. He said he had to remain working for him in exchange for a safe place to stay and "with a degree of bravado" claimed he was a valuable member of the team. He also spoke of going into the drugs business himself and making £15,000 a week.
The Manchester Evening News reported in a text with a customer O’Neill said he was going to London with £25,000 worth of drugs and the next day said he would be making a trip to the capital "with enough drugs to get three life sentences if I’m caught".
Mr Watson said the majority of messages, which also included mention of having £17,500 cash and obtaining £15,000 worth of stock, referred to methylamphetamine. In a message advertising the drug in February this year he said, ‘"F…in unbelievable. Big shards big hit. Big smiles on faces."
He boasted about the quality of the drug and its place of origin - and messages suggested he was a user and he could supply various types of drugs. The court heard that in a TikTok message he spoke about “Malaysian champagne crystal meth”.
Messages from the phone of the taxi driver he sent to the police station to collect his mislaid drugs showed he used him to take GBL to London - and other errands including collecting cash from locations in the north west including depositing £2,000 in O’Neill’s bank account. He told him he typically made £2,000 a day from drug dealing.
O'Neill was eventually arrested on June 21 near a gym in Wirral, after falling asleep in a taxi under the influence of drugs. A holdall with him contained seven bags of cannabis and 11 bags of crystal meth. Paul Becker, defending, said O’Neill, who has mental health problems, had never been in prison before and has been in custody since his arrest. He is now off drugs and is a mentor to other prisoners with similar problems to his own.
Mr Becker said: "He has two young sons and wants to come out and be a good father to them. He had got involved for various reasons including debt, bravado and making money." O’Neill, of Enfield Road, Ellesmere Port, pleaded guilty to eight offences involving possessing methylamphetamine, ketamine and cannabis with intent to supply and conspiring to supply those drugs and also GBL between December last year and June 21.
Judge Neil Flewitt, KC, said the drug was not regularly found in police seizures and described it as "almost cocaine plus" noting its highly addictive and intense effect. O'Neill was jailed for eight-and-a-half years.
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