Cold turkey behind bars for would-be drug dealers

A group of wannabe drug dealers who used one of their parents’ houses to secretly process £3,000 worth of cocaine have been locked up for a total of over seven years.

William Harrow (25), of Lyon Street, Tyler Wolstenholme (25), of Charles Street and Callum Coward (19), of Church Road, all Oldham, used the family home of co-accused Stephen Thompson (20), of Milnrow. to cut the drugs.

Minshull Crown Court, Manchester, was told that Thompson’s mother didn’t know that her house was being used as the gang’s hub for their failed operation.

On the August 6 last year, police raided the house after seeing the defendants go inside and found the four in the kitchen with a haul of cocaine.

Officers found that Harrow had cocaine with a street value of £2,100.

Police found £550 worth of cocaine in Harrow’s pockets.

Other items recovered included electronic scales, sandwich bags and hay fever tablets that the gang would use to cut the cocaine with.

Police also searched Wolstensholme’s car and found a machete with a 16ins blade and a handmade knife with a 12ins blade.

Harrow pleaded guilty to possession of controlled class A drug with intent to supply and was jailed for three years.

Thompson was sentenced to 18 months concerning the supply of class A drugs and Coward was also given 18 months at a young offenders institution for the same charge.

Wolstenholme received 18 months in a young offenders institution concerning the supply the cocaine but also received an additional three months for two counts of possessing an article with a bladed point.