A violent “brute” and serial thief has been jailed for attacking nurses and police officers and running amok at Harrogate District Hospital.

Philip John Watson, 32, “kicked off” inside the hospital’s A&E department where he assaulted two nurses, threatened doctors, threw a blood-pressure machine to the floor and launched a fruit-and-veg crate at a receptionist, York Crown Court heard.

Watson was on bail at the time after being arrested for a series of violent offences and shop thefts, said prosecutor Brooke Morrison.

During the “disgraceful” incident at the hospital on February 26, he went into the A&E department where he was treated for an apparent drug overdose.

He was left to “sleep it off” but when nurses went to rouse him, he began shouting and swearing at them. He then ripped the cannula, a fluid tube, from the back of his hand and pushed one of the nurses in the chest before elbowing her colleague in the shoulder “to get (her) out of his way”.

He then threw a blood-pressure machine to the floor and flicked blood from the cannula around the room. Ms Morrison added:

“He (then) stormed through A&E, pushing trolleys and trying to flip over the equipment.”

When a doctor asked him to stop, Watson threatened him before marching into the hospital reception, “again dripping blood onto the floor”. Ms Morrison said:

“He sat in a wheelchair before going outside and returning to reception with a wooden fruit-and-veg crate.”

Watson threw the crate at the ceiling, causing cracks and holes in the plastering. He then went outside, grabbed another crate and threw it at the reception desk, causing the receptionist to duck out of the way.

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He was escorted out of reception by two staff members, but then started throwing pieces of meat at nurses in the ambulance bay and threatening the ambulance driver.

Police were called in but when officers tried to cuff him, Watson tried to run away, shouting, “You will not arrest me”.

Officers took him to ground and hauled him into the police van, but Watson started kicking the police cage and told a special constable he would “bite his face off”.

Claimed to have swallowed bags of heroin

On arrival at Harrogate Police Station, Watson claimed he had swallowed bags of heroin, forcing officers to take him back to hospital for checks. On the way there, he subjected the special constable to a torrent of “foul and racist” comments.

Watson, from Harrogate but of no fixed address, was on bail at the time following a string of offences including a previous incident at the hospital on May 20 last year, when he went into A&E – again in a drink and drug-induced state – and was placed in a cubicle “to sleep it off”.

When he woke, he tried to leave the hospital through the “wrong door” and went berserk, “grabbing and shaking” doors and walking into the resuscitation room.

A doctor called for assistance and two hospital porters escorted Watson back to the cubicle where he told the doctor he wanted to “put his hands around somebody’s neck and squeeze them until their heads pop”.

Such was Watson’s “aggressive and intimidatory” behaviour, hospital staff called police who arrived to arrest him.

That same month, Watson stole alcohol from Asda on Bower Road and after being arrested he headbutted a glass door at the police station, causing it to crack.

The following month, on bail again, he elbowed a police officer in the face, causing a small cut, after being stopped on suspicion of shoplifting in Bower Street. Two other officers tried to bring him under control him, but he ran away as they fired a Taser gun at him which missed.

He was finally arrested following a short chase, but it took three officers to restrain him.

Three months later, he was arrested again for handling stolen goods after he and another man stole about £150 of clothes from TK Max at the Victoria Shopping Centre.

In October, he stole from the Co-op and used a stolen bank card to buy cigarettes from Tesco.

In November, he stole razors worth £145 from Asda and was arrested again the following month after stealing hundreds of pounds’ worth of clothes from TK Max. On being arrested, he was found with heroin.

He was ultimately charged with a raft of offences including assaulting police officers and hospital staff, resisting a police constable, criminal damage, shop thefts, threatening behaviour, possessing a Class A drug and handling stolen goods.

He admitted all matters and appeared for sentence via video link today after being remanded in custody.

‘Enormous’ criminal record

The court heard that Watson had an “enormous” criminal record for offences including burglary, robbery, carrying knives, racially aggravated criminal damage, assaulting police officers and “beating people up”. All the offences were fuelled by drink and drugs.

His solicitor advocate Graham Parkin said Watson was “completely out of control” at the time of his latest series of offences.

Judge Sean Morris said Watson had behaved “like a brute” towards the doctors and nurses who were “trying to save people’s lives”.

He described his behaviour as “disgracefully violent”.

Watson was handed a 21-month jail sentence, but he won’t be spending too long in prison as he will only have to serve half of that behind bars and he had already served the equivalent of a 14-month sentence on remand.

A Porsche driver has been jailed today after causing the death of a cyclist on the A168 near Boroughbridge.

James Bryan, 37, was rushing to get some shopping for his parents on May 10, 2020, when his Porsche Carrera 911 ploughed into the back of a bicycle ridden by married father-of-two Andrew Jackson, 36, York Crown Court heard.

Bryan was found not guilty of causing death by dangerous driving after a trial in September. However, he admitted causing death by careless driving.

He appeared for sentencing at York Crown Court this morning, where he was jailed for nine months.

‘Distracted by something’

During the trial, which began last month, prosecutor Anne Richardson alleged that in the moments before the crash at Allerton Park, Mr Bryan must have been distracted by “something” because Mr Jackson was clearly visible.

She claimed that evidence showed he must have been looking at, scrolling through, or reading posts on social media.

Mr Bryan had taken cocaine and been drinking at his friend’s house in Cheshire the night before the fatal collision at Rabbit Hill Park.

A roadside test in the aftermath of the crash showed that although he wasn’t over the limit for either drink or drugs, there were traces of cocaine, or a cocaine breakdown product, in his system.

Ms Richardson claimed that Bryan, who celebrated his 35th birthday just two days before the accident, would have been impaired by the drugs in his system and from being hungover and tired from the alcohol and festivities the night before.

He was on his way to drop off some groceries at his parents’ house who were isolating during the covid lockdown when the accident occurred at about 1.40pm.

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Bryan, of St Mary’s Avenue, Harrogate, was arrested and charged with causing death by dangerous driving. He denied the allegation but admitted causing death by careless driving in that he didn’t leave enough room to drive around the bicycle.

Defence barrister Sophia Dower claimed that Bryan was in a “fit and proper state” to drive and was not using his phone at the time of the crash.

She claimed Mr Jackson’s bike had veered right from the edge of the road into the path of Mr Bryan’s black Porsche, and that her client “didn’t have enough time to react”.

The off-duty doctor who was at the scene said Mr Jackson had suffered a serious head injury and his helmet was broken.

Police knock ‘changed our lives forever’

Andrew Jackson

During the sentencing hearing today, a victim impact statement from Mr Jackson’s father, Paul Jackson, was read in court.

Mr Jackson said he and his wife, Ruth, can remember the knock on the door from police which he said “changed our lives forever”.

He said:

“He was only 36 years old when he was killed. He was in the prime of his life.”

Mr Jackson added that he and his wife “found it difficult to express how the loss has affected us”.

Mr Jackson’s wife, Jenny, told the court today Andrew was her “best friend and team mate” and that it was “so hard not having him around”.

She said:

“My children should be growing up to know what it feels like to be hugged by their father.”

In mitigation, Bryan’s defence said the defendant had expressed remorse and had suffered from “fragile mental health”.

Ms Dower said he had suffered from depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder since the crash.

She said:

“If Mr Bryan could turn back the clock, he would do it in a heartbeat.

“Whatever sentence this court imposes today, we all know that Mr Bryan is going to have to live the rest of his life knowing that his careless driving killed Mr Jackson.”

Sentencing Bryan, Judge Simon Hickey said that Mr Jackson was “there to be seen” and not at fault for the collision.

Judge Hickey said a combination of tiredness and “interaction with a device” led to Bryan hitting Mr Jackson.

He said:

“That is why you hit Mr Jackson from behind. 

“No blame is attached to him… because of your inattention he could have been avoided.”

Bryan was jailed for nine months, of which he will serve half before being released.

He was also disqualified for two years and ordered to pass an extended driving test before being allowed to drive again.

A solicitor from Harrogate has been remanded in custody after breaching a restraining order preventing him from contacting his ex-wife.

Richard Wade-Smith, 66, appeared at York Crown Court this morning via video link from HMP Hull to be sentenced after pleading guilty to the breach at York Magistrates Court last month.

The court heard he had previously been sentenced to a community order and restraining order on September 15, after ramming his car into his ex-wife’s house at Slingsby Walk, near the Stray in Harrogate. He had admitted harassment causing fear of violence, damaging property, and drink driving.

Just four days after being sentenced, he breached the order, turning up at his ex-wife’s house as well as visiting her neighbour.

Prosecuting, Kelly Sherif said:

“[His former wife] said that ‘I knew that when Richard was released, that he would not abide by any orders and here we are, four days later…

“I sit in my house with the curtains closed, too scared to venture outside in case I see him’.”

The prosecution said Wade-Smith had knocked on his ex-wife’s door at 8.15am, but left when she failed to answer. He then returned at 10.30am and knocked, as well as calling to his wife and saying it was “Susie” at the door.

When she recognised his voice and again did not open the door, he went to the neighbouring house. The neighbour answered the door but told him he should not be there because of the restraining order.

Wade-Smith said he had nowhere to go, but the neighbour repeated that he was not allowed to be near his ex-wife’s home.

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In mitigation, Alasdair Campbell told the court Wade-Smith had been unable to access temporary accommodation following the sentencing on September 15.

It had taken a long time for arrangements to be made for him to leave HMP Hull, by which time Harrogate Borough Council’s offices had closed and he was unable to get a place at a homeless hostel.

He slept rough that night and the next night, then paid “a lot of money” for a hotel the third night. He slept rough again the following night, but woke up in hospital, having been drinking and apparently been robbed, with his bank card and cash taken.

Recovering alcoholic

Wade-Smith, a recovering alcoholic, admitted breaching the restraining order, though he argued he had only visited his former wife’s home once.

Mr Campbell said:

“When I asked him why he did that on that particular occasion, my instructions are that, faced with what he was going through, [he chose] the option of breaching the restraining order to get himself locked up so he had somewhere to stay that night…

“In hindsight, it may have been a foolish option.

“If someone is prepared to breach a serious court order, it does give one some idea of the desperate position he perceived himself to be in.”

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York — who heard Wade-Smith’s original case in September — adjourned sentencing until November to allow a full victim impact statement to be taken from Wade-Smith’s former wife.

He told Mr Campbell that Wade-Smith should have gone back to the council the day after his release to access the hostel place that had been arranged for him by the court.

He added:

“He isn’t stupid, this man. He should have gone the next day.”

Wade-Smith is due to be sentenced on Friday, November 18.

A Porsche driver who killed a cyclist while allegedly using his phone has been found not guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.

James Bryan, 37, was rushing to get some shopping for his parents during the covid lockdown when his Porsche Carrera 911 ploughed into the back of a bicycle ridden by married father-of-two Andrew Jackson, 36, on the A168 between Wetherby and Boroughbridge, York Crown Court heard.

The prosecution claimed that at the time of the collision, Mr Bryan had been using his mobile and pointed to evidence that showed his Facebook and Instagram accounts were open.

A jury essentially had to decide the case on the single issue of whether Mr Bryan had been using his phone at the time of the fatal crash, which occurred on the afternoon of May 10, 2020.

Mr Bryan denied he was using his phone.

After deliberating long into the afternoon today (Friday, September 23), the jury found him not guilty of causing death by dangerous driving. However, he had already admitted causing death by careless driving and will be sentenced for that offence in October.

Social media claims

During the trial, which began earlier this week, prosecutor Anne Richardson alleged that in the moments before the crash at Allerton Park, Mr Bryan must have been distracted by “something” because Mr Jackson was clearly visible.

She claimed that evidence showed he must have been looking at, scrolling through, or reading posts on social media.

Mr Bryan had taken cocaine and been drinking at his friend’s house in Cheshire the night before the fatal collision at Rabbit Hill Park.

A roadside test in the aftermath of the crash showed that although he wasn’t over the limit for either drink or drugs, there were traces of cocaine, or a cocaine breakdown product, in his system.

Ms Richardson claimed that Bryan, who celebrated his 35th birthday just two days before the accident, would have been impaired by the drugs in his system and from being hungover and tired from the alcohol and festivities the night before.

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He was on the way to drop some groceries off at his parents’ house who were isolating during the covid lockdown when the accident occurred at about 1.40pm. Ms Richardson said:

“The front of the Porsche collided with the rear of Mr Jackson’s bike and Andrew Jackson came off his bike, went up in the air and hit his head on the windscreen and roof of the car, and landed on the road behind the car.

“He was pronounced dead at the scene by an off-duty intensive-care consultant.”

“This is an incredibly sad case. A young mother has lost her husband and father to two (very young) children. Her in-laws have lost their only son.”

Mr Bryan, of St Mary’s Avenue, Harrogate, was arrested and charged with causing death by dangerous driving. He denied the allegation but admitted causing death by careless driving in that he didn’t leave enough room to drive around the bicycle.

Ms Richardson claimed Mr Bryan’s driving was dangerous because he “wasn’t looking at the road ahead of him” as his car approached Mr Jackson.

Died from head injuries

Mr Bryan – who had been at a birthday barbecue in Wilmslow the night before and set off for home early the following morning – called 999 moments after the accident and told a call operator he thought the cyclist was dead.

Other motorists, including the off-duty doctor and his medically trained wife, were on the scene in minutes and called police and an ambulance, but Mr Jackson had already died from head injuries.

Forensic analysis of Mr Bryan’s phone showed that it was unlocked in the moments before the crash and the Instagram and Facebook apps were open.

Mr Bryan was taken in for questioning and told police that Mr Jackson, who lived locally, “came out of nowhere” but then claimed the cyclist had veered into the middle of the road and that he had tried to overtake him, only for the cyclist to “swerve into my path”.

An accident investigator who carried out a reconstruction of the accident said the bike was not in the middle of the road, but on the edge of the carriageway, near a grass verge, and that Mr Bryan had not tried to move around the bicycle.

In one message found on Mr Bryan’s phone on the way back from Cheshire, he told a friend he was hungover from the night before and was “concerned about being late for his parents with their shopping”.

In another sent by Mr Bryan to a female friend while he was at the birthday party the previous night, he told her: “I’m so drunk I can’t see.”

Defence barrister Sophia Dower claimed that Mr Bryan was in a “fit and proper state” to drive and was not using his phone at the time of the crash.

She claimed that Mr Jackson’s bike had veered right from the edge of the road into the path of Mr Bryan’s black Porsche, and that her client “didn’t have enough time to react”.

The off-duty doctor who was at the scene said Mr Jackson had suffered a serious head injury and his helmet was broken.

Mr Bryan will be sentenced on October 21.

Jackson family statement

The Jackson family issued the following statement yesterday after the verdict:

“The outcome from today doesn’t change anything for us; we are still learning to live with the gaping hole in our lives left by Andrew.

“However, it is important we were here to represent Andrew, to get justice for him and to show just how much he is still loved and missed.

“We all deserve to feel safe on our roads and to make it home to our loved ones.

“We respectfully ask for time and space for our family to process the events of this week as we continue to grieve for our husband, father, son and friend.”

A 45-year-old man has pleaded guilty to setting fire to a Knaresborough pub last year.

Stephen Pearson, of Pinhoe Road in Exeter, was charged with arson at Blind Jack’s pub on Market Place in the town on August 21 last year.

He pleaded guilty when he appeared before York Crown Court this morning.

Pearson’s defence counsel told the court that he had “a number of difficulties” over the years and was currently seeing a clinical psychologist on a regular basis.

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The defence requested that the case be adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

Judge Simon Hickey adjourned sentencing Pearson until November 18.

He told him that he must “realise the consequences that may follow” when he appears before court again.

Blind Jack’s on Market Place, Knaresborough.

The pub was damaged in the blaze at around 4am on the morning of August 21, 2021.

Owners Christian and Alice Ogley were away at the time of the fire and nobody was injured.

The Grade II listed pub is named after Knaresborough’s John Metcalf, the first professional road builder to emerge in the Industrial Revolution.

A 45-year-old man will appear before York Crown Court this week charged with arson at a pub in Knaresborough.

Stephen John Pearson, of Nutwell Court Road in Lympstone, Devon, is charged with committing arson that damaged Blind Jack’s pub on Market Place in the town on August 21 last year.

He appeared before York Magistrates Court on August 25 for the alleged offence, when the case was referred to York Crown Court.

Mr Pearson is due to appear before the crown court on Friday.

The Grade II pub is named after Knaresborough’s John Metcalf, the first professional road builder to emerge in the Industrial Revolution.

Blind Jack’s on Market Place, Knaresborough.

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A drink-driving solicitor rammed his car into his wife’s home following months of marital discord in which he falsely accused her of being unfaithful and forced her to flee the house.

Richard Wade-Smith, 66, a former “high-powered” solicitor from Harrogate, waged an unrelenting harassment campaign against his now-former partner.

It culminated in the early hours of Boxing Day last year when she was awoken by a terrible “smashing” noise, prosecutor Brooke Morrison told York Crown Court.

The ex-partner initially thought it was an “explosion” but then heard an engine revving and locked herself inside a bedroom as she was too scared to go out and see what it was. 

She called police and it was only when officers arrived that she dared venture outside her home in Slingsby Walk, near the Stray.

To her horror, she realised it was Wade-Smith, who had rammed his Nissan Qashqai into her front door.

Police helped Wade-Smith out of the car, which was damaged along with the front of his ex-partner’s semi-detached home. He was taken into custody where a breath test showed he was nearly twice the drink-drive limit. 

Wade-Smith, a Cambridge law graduate whose legal specialisms included planning and environmental matters, was arrested and charged with harassment causing fear of violence, damaging property and drink-driving.

He ultimately admitted the offences and appeared for sentence today when the court was told about the couple’s toxic relationship and Wade-Smith’s unrelenting harassment of the victim.

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At a previous hearing, Wade-Smith had contested the parameters of a proposed restraining order to keep him away from his former partner because he was worried that the exclusion zone would prevent him going to Waitrose, the upmarket superstore. 

Ms Morrison said the former couple had been in a relationship for about 22 years, but in 2021 Wade-Smith’s behaviour changed after he started drinking following seven years of abstinence.

He would “disturb (his wife’s) sleep”, waking her in the middle of the night and demanding she “answer questions” about her so-called “secret lives” and their sex life.

Wade-Smith also demanded on “multiple occasions, in the middle of the night”, that she leave the house.

He would shout at her on “multiple occasions” in the street. She became so frightened she began “spending large amounts of time overnight sitting on her doorstep or wandering the streets”.

Fearing for her safety

In November last year, she started receiving nasty messages on a “daily basis” from Wade-Smith, who made further groundless accusations about her.

On one occasion inside the house, he told her: “If you don’t go now, I’ll kick you down the stairs.”

Fearing for her safety and worried she would be physically attacked, the former partner called police. 

Wade-Smith was arrested and bailed on the proviso that he didn’t contact her or go to her address.

But the ex-lawyer, who had worked for a number of legal firms in Yorkshire before latterly being self-employed, allegedly sent her more messages while on bail, culminating in the car-ramming incident on December 26.

Following his arrest for that incident, Wade-Smith gave police a prepared statement in which he admitted that the relationship was “not good” but initially denied that the messages and his behaviour were threatening.

In a victim statement read out in court, the former partner said Wade-Smith’s behaviour had left her with health problems and had affected her “financially and psychologically”.

She said she was trying to sell the house of which Wade-Smith had joint ownership and there had been contact between their respective solicitors.

She said that at this stage in her life she he hadn’t expected to be in “this insecure position” and been put under pressure to sell the high-market-value house which needed considerable repair.

Defence barrister Alasdair Campbell said that Wade-Smith had severe mental health problems at the time of the offences and became bipolar in middle age. 

A doctor’s report confirmed he had been suffering from psychosis and “hypermania”, which had been exacerbated by alcohol and “led to a very unpredictable life for both of them”.

Mr Campbell added:

“Because of his previous life (as a solicitor) he clearly has intelligence (and) he has remorse.”

‘A tragic case’

Wade-Smith, a keen cyclist, was currently homeless after spending nine months on custodial remand awaiting sentence.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, told Wade-Smith: 

“This is as tragic case – tragic for you, but especially tragic for your wife.

“You (were) a man of good character and you were a successful solicitor who worked extremely hard in a high-powered position, but unbeknown to you, you became bipolar.

“Your wife recognised that there was obviously something wrong with you and you acted as a completely different person to the man she used to know and love.

“At the time of these awful experiences for your wife, you were suffering with episodes of mania and psychosis, not helped by the fact that you tried to self-medicate with alcohol.

“You became delusional and acted in a way you would not have acted had you not been affected with this problem.”

Mr Morris said that due to this “strong” personal mitigation, he would not be sending Wade-Smith to jail, nor imposing a suspended prison sentence because the former lawyer would be released immediately without accommodation due to the nine months he had spent on remand.

Instead, Wade-Smith received a three-year community order with 40 rehabilitation-activity days “to help “rebuild your life”.

Mr Morris said a community order with support rather than a suspended prison sentence was more “appropriate”, otherwise Wade-Smith would be released from prison “unaided” and with nowhere to live and “on the streets”.

Restraining order

Wade-Smith was also made subject to a restraining order, for an indefinite period, which prohibits him contacting his wife or going near her home in Slingsby Walk. 

The initial map proposed by the prosecution asked for Wade-Smith to be banned from going within 500 metres of his former partner’s house in Slingsby Walk, but Wade-Smith asked for the radius to be halved so he could go to Waitrose.

The judge said that the definitive map would be redrawn if the victim wished to alter it. 

Wade-Smith also received a 17-month motoring ban for drink-driving. 

The Probation Service said that Wade-Smith would be treated as a “priority” case for emergency housing and that the local authority would find him homeless accommodation in Harrogate. 

A notorious thug has been jailed for biting a police officer following a disturbance in Harrogate town centre.

Adam Snowdon, 31, was arrested following a drunken incident in Parliament Street and brought into Harrogate Police Station, where he bit one officer and allegedly assaulted two others.

He was charged with affray and assaulting three police officers. 

He initially denied all allegations but admitted affray on the day of trial. 

Snowdon, of Lupton Close, Glasshouses, was tried by a jury on three allegations of assaulting a police officer.

At York Crown Court yesterday (Monday, September 12), he was found guilty of one count of assaulting a policeman but not guilty of attacking the two others.

The substantive charge on which he was found guilty was biting a named officer at the police station on Beckwith Head Road on May 1. 

Prosecutor Ben Whittingham said that Snowdon was on a community order at the time for previous offences, including violence against police officers. 

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Defence barrister Allan Armbrister said Snowdon was “very much a loner” who desperately needed help after years of mental-health issues. 

He said Snowdon had not yet received that professional help and would now “lose that chance” due to the inevitable jail sentence for his “awful behaviour” in the town centre in May.

He added that Snowdon had recently become a father but any hopes of family life were now “completely lost” because his now-ex partner didn’t want “anything more to do with him”.

Snowdon, who was no stranger to prison, had been diagnosed with behavioural problems as a child.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, said he had “taken a chance” with Snowdon when he gave him a community order earlier this year, but jail was now the only option because of his “bad” record for violence.

He said although Snowdon didn’t start the violence in the town centre, it was a “prolonged incident thereafter, on a busy street where people are fed up with…drunken violence”. 

Jailing Snowdon for 19 months, the judge said he would reserve all future cases involving the Harrogate man to himself and would “come down on you like a tonne of bricks if you cause trouble in North Yorkshire’s towns and cities”.

Snowdon will serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.

A Vietnamese teenager has denied being concerned in the production of Class B drugs after police discovered a cannabis farm in Harlow Hill, Harrogate.

Manh Nguyen, 18, of no fixed address, appeared at York Crown Court today (Monday, September 5) when his case was adjourned for a trial in January next year.

Mr Nguyen was arrested after police raided a property in West Lea Avenue, in the Harlow Hill area, last month.

It’s understood that during a search of the property, they found about 500 cannabis plants and other items linked to drug production.

Mr Nguyen was charged with being concerned in the production of a Class B drug but denied the allegation when he appeared in court via video link today, aided by a Vietnamese interpreter.

Judge Simon Hickey adjourned the case for a trial starting on January 25 next year. A further case-management hearing will be heard on November 11 this year.

Mr Nguyen was remanded in custody until that date.

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A cocaine dealer who “peddled misery” in Harrogate has been jailed for nearly three years after being snared by an undercover cop posing as a drug addict.

Jack Milner, 25, bragged to the officer that he was “making a good wage” from his trade but he was being played from the outset, York Crown Court heard.

Milner supplied cocaine to the plain-clothed officer on three separate occasions in December 2019, said prosecutor David Povall.

Mr Povall added:

“The officer was part of a wider operation focusing on county lines (drug networks) and it appears the defendant has crossed their sights.”

He said although Milner wasn’t involved “in that level of criminality”, he was working with others to supply the Class A drug.

The undercover officer, who used a pseudonym, was introduced to Milner on December 9 when he was supplied with cocaine. 

The following day, the officer called Milner to arrange another deal and he was “again supplied with (cocaine)”.

On the third day, the officer rang the same number and spoke to a different man who supplied him some wraps of heroin and cocaine.

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The court heard that Milner only supplied cocaine and was not involved in the dealing of heroin. However, the officer later saw Milner with this “second man…giving him permission to supply the officer with a further wrap”.

Milner, of Harehills Lane, Leeds, was duly arrested and found with a “burner” phone – a cheap, pre-paid mobile which criminals often use to evade detection.

He initially denied any involvement in Class A drug-dealing and maintained his innocence until the day of trial in June, when he finally admitted supplying cocaine.

Living on the streets

Nick Cartmell, mitigating, said Milner was living on the streets with his girlfriend at the time and had pneumonia. 

He said although Milner clearly made a “quite significant” financial gain, it was simply to buy his “next McDonald’s (meal)…and not going hungry”.

Mr Cartmell added:

“He was a fool and he has a penalty to pay.

“The defendant appears to have been operating a telephone number for the supply of drugs with others and been directly involved in handing them over to addicts.”

He said that Milner stood to make a “significant financial gain” although the amount was unknown.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, told Milner: 

“You were peddling misery on the streets and…that is very serious.

“You said to the undercover officer that you were being paid a good wage for what you were doing. In my book, peddling Class A drugs is so serious that there has to be an immediate prison sentence because there has to be a recognition of deterrence for others. 

“You were out and about distributing this filth on the streets. Who know how many lives you wrecked?”

Milner was jailed for two years and nine months. He will serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.