A drug dealer who hid 58 wraps of crack and heroin in his bum said he strayed into peddling Class As to cope with having to pay for his mum’s funeral.
Tyrone Grimes, 25, was arrested by police after they spotted him carry out a suspected drug deal in the Widnes on May 11 this year. Paul Wood, prosecuting at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday, said officers pulled over a Citroen Berlingo on Hale Road and arrested the driver, Grimes, who “tried to struggle”.
The officer also seized a “burner” phone from Grimes’s pocket. At Cheshire Police’s northern custody suite, officers strip-searched Grimes.
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Mr Wood said: “He was uncooperative and threatening with the police and made a number of derogatory comments. He was strip-searched and a packet of 29 wraps of diamorphine (heroin) and 29 wraps of cocaine was recovered.”
The drugs were in £10 deals worth £580 in total. He also had £146.30 seized from the pocket of his fleece jacket. A drug expert said the drugs were “consistent with onward sale”.
The mobile phone showed Grimes, of Bell House Road, Widnes, had sent a flare message on May 1 in relation to Class B drugs. Grimes gave no comment to questions during police interview.
Mr Wood said Grimes had three convictions for five offences including conveying a List B article into prison, namely a phone inside his bum, conspiracy to supply a Class B drug, and possessing a prohibited weapon, which Judge David Aubrey, QC, said related to a “disguised firearm” and for which Grimes received seven years in a young offenders institute - as reported by the ECHO at the time as part of coverage of a large gun-toting drugs gang linked to shootings in Speke, Whiston and Huyton.
Grimes was recalled to prison on licence after his arrest in Widnes, and pleaded guilty at Chester Magistrates’ Court on May 12 to two counts of possession with intent to supply a Class A drug, namely heroin and crack cocaine, and one of acquiring or using criminal property.
Grimes was initially charged with assaulting an emergency worker in relation to his arrest in Widnes on May 11 but the count was ordered to lie on file on Thursday. Mr Wood said the incident was of “such a low level”, and Judge Aubrey said: “I agree with that course of action.”
Carmel Wilde, defending, said Grimes, who had previously worked as a mechanic, had resorted to dealing drugs after his mother died from cancer and he was faced with mounting financial pressure including for the funeral and as a young father.
She said he was diagnosed with depression and bipolar disorder in the wake of his bereavement.
Ms Wilde said: “He became overwhelmed. He wasn’t working any more and regrettably, foolishly chose to involve himself in this offending. He couldn’t see any option. He doesn’t say that as an excuse but as background.”
She added Grimes didn’t use drugs but found himself “dwindling into depression” and “he built up significant debts”.
The judge sentenced Grimes, who appeared by videolink from prison, to three years and four months in prison. The sentence had been reduced by a third from five years to reflect credit for Grimes’s guilty pleas.
Judge Aubrey said: “There were two separate drugs. Drugs ruin lives. They cause misery, they cause desperation, and you should know that only too well.”
A provisional timetable was agreed in relation for an application to confiscate the Citroen Berlingo and the judge said the cash could be donated to charity.
