Man stashed drugs at his mum’s house
ADAD-OF-TWO stashed more than £24,000 of cocaine and cannabis at his mum’s house – leading to her arrest.
Louis Bolton, 29, ran up a drug debt and agreed to be a “warehouse” man for dealers on a “substantial level”.
He stored the drugs – along with nearly £2,400 of dirty cash – in his mum Vivien Howe’s back garden and kitchen.
Liverpool Crown Court heard police raided her house in Milton Street, Southport at around 4.10pm on June 1 last year.
Chris Taylor, prosecuting, said a wooden box was concealed in the garden, containing 200 wraps of cocaine, weighing 134g. Numerous freezer bags containing 486g of cannabis were also found within the box, which bore Bolton’s fingerprints.
A search of Ms Howe’s kitchen and dining room revealed a further 10 wraps of cocaine and some cannabis resin.
In total there was 734g of cannabis, with an estimated value of £10,942, and 210 wraps of cocaine, worth up to £13,476.
Mr Taylor said £2,380 in cash was seized from the home, which was forfeited at an earlier court appearance.
Bolton’s mum was arrested, taken into custody and charged with possession of the drugs with intent to supply.
The following day, Bolton rang police and said he was responsible for the items, before he too was charged.
Mr Taylor said: “He said they were not his, he was looking after them for someone else and indicated he was happy to hand himself in.”
Bolton said he wanted to go to a police station outside of Liverpool as he didn’t want to go to HMP Liverpool, where he could be at risk.
But four days later he handed himself in at Copy Lane police station in Aintree and answered no comment to all police questions.
Bolton, of Milton Street, admitted possessing cocaine and cannabis with intent to supply, possessing cannabis and criminal property. The court heard the charges against his mum were dropped as a result of his guilty pleas.
Bolton has 39 previous convictions for 56 offences, including possession of drugs, but none for drug dealing.
He also admitted breaching a ninemonth sentence, suspended for two years in January 2016, for dangerous driving.
Charles Lander, defending, said his client was the “custodian” of the drugs.
He said: “He had run up a debt. He’s terrified, your honour, because of where he is going to go.
“He is particularly worried about his two children. They are both very young.”
Mr Lander said in one text message to his partner, Bolton said: “Can’t grass people up, so it’s me.”
He added: “He says he just can’t bear the fact his youngest child, who is only a few months old, will have no memory of her father.”
Judge Anil Murray said Mr Lander’s mitigation convinced him to impose a lower sentence than he originally had in mind.
He said: “It’s accepted you were warehousing these drugs on behalf of someone else. This was on a substantial level.”
Judge Murray jailed Bolton for three years and activated two months of his suspended sentence.