Northwich man jailed for drug dealing and assault

A man from Northwich has been jailed for assault and dealing class A drugs.

Callum Finlay appeared at Chester Crown Court on Thursday 18 April where he was sentenced to five years and six months in prison.

The 23-year-old, of Golden Nook Road, Cuddington, Northwich, had previously pleaded guilty to –

• Section 20 assault
• Two counts of possession with intent to supply class A drugs (heroin and crack cocaine)
• Two counts of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs (heroin and crack cocaine)
• Possession of class A drugs (cocaine)
• Possession of class B drugs (ketamine)

The court heard how on Friday 10 February 2023 officers searching for Finlay for an unrelated matter conducted a warrant at an address on Britton Court in Moulton.

When searching the address officers discovered 43 wraps of heroin and over five wraps of crack cocaine, one wrap of cocaine, one wrap of ketamine, anabolic steroids,  along with a red iPhone and almost £500 cash.

Finlay was arrested at the property on suspicion of Possession with Intent to Supply Class A drugs before being released on bail pending further enquiries.

As enquiries continued, at around 2pm on Saturday 11 November 2023, police were made aware of an assault outside a pub on Crown Street in Northwich that had happened in the early hours of 11 November.

The victim of the assault was a customer at the pub who was not known to Finlay, the victim reported that they had suffered a broken jaw after being punched in the face a number of times by Finlay.

Finlay was arrested on suspicion of assault later that day and at the time of his arrest, he was found in possession of a Nokia mobile phone.

Examination of the phone revealed that it was being used to send flare messages to sell illegal drugs in the Northwich area.

Following his arrest Finlay refused to answer any questions, but despite his silence he was charged possession with intent to supply drugs in relation to the warrant and being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs as a result of the information found on the mobile phone. He was also charged in relation to the assault.

Following his sentencing Detective Constable Lara Hill, of Northwich CID, said:

“I welcome the sentence handed to Finlay and I hope that it acts as a warning to others.

“During our investigation it became clear that Finlay had no regard for the law. Despite his initial arrest he continued to deal drugs while on bail. On top of this he also went on to assault an innocent member of the public without provocation.

“Thankfully, as a result of the evidence we were able to gather, Finlay was left with no option but to plead guilty to all of the offences and he is now facing the consequences of his actions.”