Deansgate ‘gang fight’ thug is jailed
DRUG DEALER TERRIFIED SHOPPERS IN BASEBALL BAT RAMPAGE
A SALFORD drug dealer branded ‘untouchable’ has been jailed after rampaging with a baseball bat during a ‘gang fight’ in broad daylight in Manchester city centre.
Shoppers took refuge as Leevon Birchall squared up to another group of thugs outside Kendals, off Deansgate, on a busy weekday lunchtime, a court heard.
Birchall, 24, and two accomplices fled when the other gang pulled out a machete. Birchall, who also earned himself thousands of pounds selling cannabis on a ‘commercial scale,’ has now been locked up for four years.
He was rumbled after his car, a Fiat Punto registered to him and reported stolen by his girlfriend, was found abandoned in the street in Eccles in early August, this year.
Inside they found several glass jars containing cannabis bush, as well as £383 stuffed inside a jacket, and other drug paraphernalia, including scales and snap bags.
His mobile phone was also found inside and after being examined by detectives, they were able to prove Birchall was selling cannabis ‘on a fairly large commercial scale.’
Simon Barrett, prosecuting, said he sold small amounts of cannabis to users and also one ounce packages, worth around £220 each, to other dealers. On his phone there was reference to him selling 20 ounces, worth around £5,000, and he had a ‘debtors list’ which referenced him being owed £4,500.
Just a few weeks later, Birchall was part of a street fight which erupted outside Kendals department store, close to Parsonage Gardens, just off Deansgate in the city centre.
At around 1.40pm on Wednesday, August 23, Birchall was seen with two other men in an ‘altercation’ with another group. CCTV footage was shown to the court showing Birchall walking towards them holding the bat in the air and ‘swinging it around.’
Birchall, of Hoylake Road, Sale, pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis with intent to supply, affray, and possession of an offensive weapon at earlier hearings.
Birchall appeared at Manchester Crown Court on Wednesday via video link.
Mark Brown, defending, said Birchall had begun selling drugs because he couldn’t find legitimate employment after leaving prison and became hooked on cannabis.
He said: “He committed the offences partly due to financial difficulty. He had recently been released from custody and couldn’t find employment. He then developed a cannabis habit.”
Prosecutors will now try to claw back his ill-gotten gains through the Proceeds of Crime Act, with a hearing scheduled for next March.