Luxury city centre apartments used as drugs den

Dec 15 2007

TWO luxury apartments in Liverpool city centre were used as the centre of a drugs conspiracy turning over tens of thousands of pounds which yesterday saw three men jailed for a total of 20 years.

Liverpool Crown Court heard the plot to supply cocaine and heroin revolved around two flats in Beetham Tower, Old Hall Street.

Ian Unsworth, prosecuting, said: “The flats were used to facilitate the business of drug trafficking and as safe houses for drugs and firearms. They were used to store, prepare and pack drugs for onward distribution.”

When police raided one of the flats, on the ninth floor, on March 27 with a drugs warrant they immediately saw a large quantity of drugs and two self-loading pistols in the main bedroom.

David O’Neil, Simon Tudhope and Mark Taylor pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs between March 21 and March 28.

O’Neil, 21, of Rupert Drive, Everton, who also admitted possessing the pistols, possessing heroin and cocaine with intent to supply and possessing cannabis, was jailed for 10 years.

Tudhope, 23, of Richard Allen Way, Everton, who also admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply on January 18, was jailed for six years.

Taylor, 19, of Field Street, Liverpool city centre, was sentenced to four years and nine months detention. He admitted possessing cocaine and cannabis as well as the conspiracy charge.

Judge Graham Morrow, QC, who sentenced O’Neil to five years for the conspiracy with five years consecutive for the fire- arms offence, said: “There is a need for the public to know that Parliament’s intention of imposing a minimum five-year sentence for the firearms offence is considered essential in the current climate of the totally unacceptable use of firearms.”

Mr Unsworth told the court a drug dealer’s tick book, handled by all three, showed that during that one week their turnover was £123,000.

The ninth-floor flat was rented by O’Neil, and Mr Unsworth said: “The staff knew him by his nickname of “Bubble”. He didn’t seem to work and was seen entering and leaving the flat by the concierge throughout his night shifts.”

O’Neil was seen entering and leaving with a rucksack and his co-accused were seen in the building.

When police raided the flat they found the holdall and inside was a large quantity of cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin and benzocaine, which is used to adulterate drugs.

The total weight of cocaine at 100% purity was 136g and the heroin 15g. Street-value cocaine usually contains between 5% and 40% and costs £100 per gram, explained Mr Unsworth.

Also in the holdall were two Russian tear gas cartridge firing self-loading pistols, silencers and bulleted cartridges for the weapons. O’Neil’s DNA was found on the trigger of one of them.

The other pistol had been used with a silencer to fire bullets from a car toward the Flat Iron public house in Walton on August 27 last year, said Mr Unsworth.

Drug-dealing paraphernalia was also found. The other flat on the 16th floor had been rented since early that month and, when that was raided the next day, evidence was found linking all three to it.

More than 1,000 plastic bags with corners cut off were found, a drug dealer’s tick list, £26,000 cash and eight 12 bore shotgun cartridges.

On June 15 officers raided a house in Hawkins Street, Everton, where O’Neil was present and found heroin and crack cocaine worth a total of £13,630 and £12,000 in cash.

The court heard all three men have previous convictions. Tudhope was jailed in May 2004 for supplying crack cocaine and heroin. O’Neil has convictions for possessing cannabis and Taylor has convictions for possessing cocaine, heroin and cannabis.