Warrington drug dealer jailed

The 38-year-old of Dean Crescent, Orford, had earlier pleaded guilty to possession with intent supply class A (crack cocaine and heroin) and possession of a bladed article.

At around 11.15pm on Sunday 27 October2019 a Merseyside officer, who was in Warrington dealing with an unrelated matter, noticed Clare acting suspiciously and shining a torch into a garden on Molyneux Avenue.

The officer approached Clare and noticed that he appeared to be clutching a sandwich bag containing a number of individually wrapped parcels.

Concerned by the discovery, the officer detained Clare and searched him under the misuse of drugs act.

During the search Clare was found to be in possession of 20 wraps of class A drugs (crack cocaine and heroin).

He also had a lock knife in his pocket and a mobile phone containing a number of messages linked to drug dealing.

Following sentencing Police Constable Andy Dolan, who led the investigation said: “Firstly, I would like to pass my thanks to the Merseyside officer who made the initial arrest.

“Despite being outside his patch, his policing instincts kicked in as soon as he spotted Clare and as a result a quantity of class A drugs have been removed from our streets and Clare is now behind bars.

“Clare is the second dealer in the past week to end up behind bars as a result of a police stop check - he follows David Sherratt who was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison on 16 December.

“Both cases truly go to show the value of the police stop and search powers in the fight against drug crime.

“Warrington beat initiative team are committed to tackling drug dealing in our town and I would encourage communities to report any such activities, either directly to us on 101 or anonymously via crime stoppers”

David Keane, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, added: “I would like to thank both the Cheshire officers, the officer at Merseyside, and all those involved in this case for all their hard work in securing this conviction.

“This is another fantastic result and it demonstrates that stop and search powers are crucial to the essential role that frontline officers play in the detection and prevention of serious and organised crime.”