Dad who ran 'legal high' drugs website from Burslem base sent to jail
A FATHER-OF-TWO has been jailed for selling thousands of pounds worth of 'legal high' drugs, which then became illegal.
Thomas Dean, aged 32, previously ran his own website business selling the drugs from Moorland Road Enterprise Centre, in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard yesterday.
But on August 9, 2010 he was found unconscious in a room at the Alton Towers Hotel.
Prosecutor Fiona Cortese said: "He was unconscious on the floor. There was evidence of drinking and drug taking. Police managed to wake him.
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"They searched the room and him and found in excess of £51,000 and some powder, which contained controlled drugs."
The court heard police also found keys to a room at the Bulls Head Inn, High Street, Alton.
Inquiries revealed Dean had checked in the previous day carrying holdalls.
Police searched the room with a drugs dog and recovered 889.69 grams of powder containing flephedrone, which was valued between £7,750 and £13,275.
Officers also found 66.83 grams of powder, which contained methadrone worth between £600 and £1,010.
Two sets of scales were also recovered bearing traces of drugs.
A computer at the Burslem business unit was analysed and found to contain emails between April 2010 and July 2010 relating to Dean's trade in drugs.
Dean told police he ran a business trading in legal highs. He denied any intention to supply the drugs found.
He said he ceased trading as soon as the drugs were made illegal.
He said the items in the Bulls Head Inn were left over from trading and he had gone there with the intention of flushing them down the toilet.
He added that the money seized was from previous legal trading and he did not want to put it in the bank as two accounts had been frozen.
But months later, in November 2010, more drugs were found when police carried out a search at Dean's business premises.
He told police he had legal drugs on the premises but officers found 920.3 grams of powder containing class B drugs, which had a street value of £13,800, the court heard.
Dean, of Macclesfield Street, Burslem, pleaded guilty to four charges of possession of a class B drug with intent to supply.
Anis Ali, mitigating, said Dean was a family man of previous good character.
He said: "He was involved in the commercial supply of what were by and large lawful stimulants. Various substances came to be illegal. On realising that he ceased trading."
He said Dean became a habitual user of various substances and decided to keep hold of them for his own use.
But had the opportunity arisen he would perhaps have supplied others.
Mr Ali added that Dean believed the drugs found in his premises in November were legal but accepts he should have done more to check.
Recorder Stephen Lowne jailed Dean for six years.
He told the defendant: "It seems to me you decided to find a way of making money from what some may call the grey area of drug dealing. Materials that can give a high but are not illegal. They became illegal.
"This was a professionally set up business, not a casual business some drug dealers engage upon."
Comments
by spudder56
Thursday, November 01 2012, 12:16PM
“Pedlar in short term euphoria and long term misery enjoy your 6 years you low life scum”
by UmBongo
Thursday, November 01 2012, 12:06PM
“Alton Towers. where the magic never ends!”
by Johntoe
Wednesday, October 31 2012, 12:10PM
“HMM the 'answer' to my questions is..... some red arrows, Well, that's MY argument shot down then, Very well said, I have to admit that I still disagree of course, but I also respect your right to your very well written and researched responses,
It is indeed a privilege to engage in such well written intelligent and thought provoking debate, the presentation of the red arrow is indeed a thing to behold, I look forward to even more interesting 'debates'”
by warren-lloyd
Wednesday, October 31 2012, 6:33AM
“How can this guy, doing something that was legal, get a six year sentence and some drunk violent idiot punch someone to the ground and get a suspend one.”
by Johntoe
Wednesday, October 31 2012, 12:26AM
“TEZ
Sorry I am only partially fluent in gibberish,
I am fully aware of the dangers of hard drugs my friend, they killed my father aged 63, and I've also lost 4 close friends due to the dangers of hard drugs,
The drug in question was alcohol, but dead is still dead, so, people should ignore ignore six years research by such people as,
Dame Ruth Runciman,
the former head of the British Medical Research Council, Prof Colin Blakemore,
the former chief inspector of constabulary, David Blakey
Prof John Strang, head of the National Addictions Centre,
Prof Alan Maynard, a specialist in health economics,
Lady Ilora Finlay, a past president of the Royal Society of Medicine.
Instead we should ignore all these experts in their various fields, and listen to someone on the sentinel comments section who can't string together a legible sentence should we?
Tell us your thoughts on quantum physics, what do you think of the string theory, is Hawkins correct? I am certain you can point out the flaws in his theories, I mean, what does HE know,
he should come n talk to good ol "shotgun" he'll put him right,”
by SmellySock
Tuesday, October 30 2012, 11:56PM
“i'm sure his kids are real proud of their dad ,NOT”
by shotgun_tez
Tuesday, October 30 2012, 7:37AM
“@ johntoe ive also noticed from your cross the t,s dot the i,s speech that former/past is mentioned alot.......a 6 year study probaly costing thousands to come up with a report of nonsense you try telling drug charitys that are underfunded....you try telling a parent of son/daughter with a drug addiction its ok for some i quote former/past holder of a job to be brutally honest only a 173 pages after 6 years???? i think the money should have been better spent..bit like the goverment drugs taser lots of pen pushing reports but nothing ever really gets done...if people want to take drugs i cant do a grange hill and say just say no to them the same as fancy pancy reports dont stop people taking drugs...maybe there is a reason that there a former /past holder of that job..with the above quotes after 6 years and only 173 pages i can see why”
by SmellySock
Tuesday, October 30 2012, 1:00AM
“his face should be plastered on billboards & anti drug websites, drug use in the uk would dramatically fall,that reminds me i need to buy a pumkin for halloween..”
by shotgun_tez
Monday, October 29 2012, 10:13PM
“@johntoe oh well its off to the naughty step for me then.......i myself a beauty no grasp of english no as for the job center they asked me fill in whats the best thing of you number 1, a sense of humour........what other jobs would you consider 2,sheperd 3,jesus..........no i no model mate ......so waffle all you want with you dot the i,s cross the t,s speeches....we are all entitled to opinons be a ****** ol world if we all agreed....a sense of humour goes a long way...”
by Johntoe
Monday, October 29 2012, 12:58PM
“@ shotgun_tez
While you are at the job centre applying for modelling jobs (because you are obviously the absolute epitome of perfection and beauly yourself)
You might also point out your immaculate and faultless grasp of written English to them, I am certain it will look very impressive on your CV,
As for the general topic of legal and illegal drugs and what societies approach to them should be, Well, I am really torn between those people say, and I quote from some of the comments in this thread,
"aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh be jesus looks likes like the proclaimers will be re writing i would walk a thousand miles now one of them gone to thee chokey"
"It's just a shame that Walt Disney died without sketching him."
"he used to be in the proclaimers hadnt he????"
scum like this make me sick they're getting rich off other peoples suffering. Lock him up and throw the key away."
OR should I take the view of someone like, Brian Paddick Former Metropolitan Police Commander, for instance? I mean,... what would HE know about it?
He says,
"The Current Criminal Law Is Not Going to Tackle the Real Dangers of Drugs, The vast majority of drug users cause little harm to themselves or to others. They earn their money legitimately, their drug use is under control and the negative impact they have on themselves and others is minimal. This undermines the premise that there is a grave danger that drugs laws are an essential barrier to"
NOT, I repeat, NOT my words,
LINK-
http://tinyurl.com/9rklch3
OR should I perhaps take the opinions of the EXPERTS who did a SIX YEAR study of Britains drug laws, people like, Dame Ruth Runciman and the the former head of the British Medical Research Council, Prof Colin Blakemore, and the former chief inspector of constabulary, David Blakey and Prof John Strang, head of the National Addictions Centre, Prof Alan Maynard, a specialist in health economics, and Lady Ilora Finlay, a past president of the Royal Society of Medicine.
Who, after a SIX YEAR study wrote a 173-page report which concludes: "Taking drugs does not always cause problems, but this is rarely acknowledged by policymakers. In fact most users do not experience significant problems, and there is some evidence that drug use can have benefits in some circumstances."
Again NOT, I repeat, NOT my words,
LINK-
http://tinyurl.com/8otz6lb
Yip, have to admit, when it comes to a choice of who's 'side' I'm on when it comes to our drug laws it's a difficult choice,........ NOT!!!!
First red arrow is mine,”