Jail for one-legged drug dealer who sold heroin in wheelchair
TWO YEARS IN PRISON AFTER ‘OPENLY AND BRAZENLY’ PEDDLING CLASS A SUBSTANCES
A ONE-legged drug dealer has been jailed after selling heroin worth £23 to an undercover police officer.
Michael Curtis, 46, ‘openly and brazenly’ peddled class A drugs from his wheelchair in broad daylight on south Manchester streets, a judge said.
But Curtis, from Levenshulme, was caught out during a GMP operation in Whalley Range and the wider area.
Manchester Crown Court heard how the officer had been sold heroin by Curtis – who had a leg amputated seven years ago due to damage from drug abuse – twice over a two-month period.
On the first occasion, in Whalley Range on May 5 last year, the officer approached Curtis, who was in a wheelchair being pushed by another man. He asked Curtis where he could buy some drugs.
The officer was told to wait by Curtis, while he went to a property to collect the drugs.
He overheard Curtis ask a woman for ‘whiskey and brandy,’ a code for cocaine and heroin.
Curtis was told the heroin would not be available for half an hour and offered to get hold of it from another source. The officer was later sold a single wrap of heroin.
On the second occasion, on June 21, the same undercover officer was again working in Whalley Range. He asked where he could get hold of drugs and was directed towards Curtis.
Curtis spoke to a dealer on the phone and ordered a wrap of heroin. He then told the officer to go to a car park, where some men arrived in cars shortly after to deliver the class A drug.
The total value of the drugs in the two offences was £23, the court heard.
Curtis was arrested in November during raids executed as part of Operation Malham, targeting the supply of drugs in south Manchester. He told officers he had no memory of the incidents.
Judge Michael Leeming said Curtis had an ‘appalling’ criminal record, receiving 91 convictions previously.
The judge said the community has suffered from offenders such as Curtis ‘acting openly and brazenly, in daylight hours, dealing drugs.’
The court heard that Curtis, described as a ‘go-between,’ had to have his leg amputated because of the damage caused by injecting drugs. The judge said: “The amputation of your leg took place in 2011 and that has not stemmed the frequency of your offending.”
Sentencing, Judge Leeming sent Curtis to prison for two years.
Curtis, of Swallow Street, Levenshulme, previously pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying a class A drug.