The head of a heroin and crack cocaine "business" tried to flee over the fence of his back garden when police raided his home, then told his wife: "It's nothing to do with you girl, it's all me."
Scott Dyer entered the underworld and began supplying to other drug dealers after racking up huge gambling debts. He also recruited his brother Joseph to work on his behalf, and was caught with tens of thousands of pounds in cash hidden under his bathroom sink.
Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday afternoon, Tuesday, that Merseyside Police executed search warrants at the two defendants' houses on July 21 this year. Tom Challinor, prosecuting, described how this strike date had been the "culmination of an investigation which spanned four months".
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This included surveillance which caught the siblings "carrying out hand to hand transactions with each other and third parties", trading drugs and cash in the area around their addresses. When officers attended Scott Dyer's home on Medea Close in Everton, he unsuccessfully tried to escape over a fence in his garden.
During a subsequent search of the property, £30,000 of cash was found hidden in the pedestal of the bathroom basin. Meanwhile, a Ford Focus parked outside had been observed during the investigation at meetings "in furtherance of the conspiracy".
Dyer had been seen getting out of the car moments before the raid. The vehicle was also searched and found to contain 2.3kg of heroin and a quarter of a kilogram of crack cocaine, class A drugs potentially worth tens of thousands of pounds.
The heroin was separated into 522 separate packages and had a purity of around 40 per cent, while the crack was made up of 88 packages with a strength nearing 80 per cent. As he was being arrested, the 49-year-old told his partner: "It's nothing to do with you girl, it’s all me."
Around the same time, police also visited Joseph Dyer's home on Orry Street in Vauxhall. Items uncovered included a set of scales with drug reside on, 28.6g of caffeine and paracetamol - commonly used as cutting agents - and 14.3g of phenacetin.
An examination of his mobile phone found he had been "involved in a modest level of drugs supply, sourcing and transferring adulterants and dealing to end users". The 36-year-old had been in contact with a number of known drug users with the device.
Mr Challinor said Scott Dyer was "supplying to suppliers", "organising the supply of drugs on a significant scale" for "substantial financial advantage" and "sold drugs as a business". He has three previous convictions, including receiving eight-and-a-half years in 1999 for trafficking heroin.
However, the older brother has only one offence, of drink driving, on his record since his release from this sentence. Mike Flynn, defending, described how his client had racked up "considerable gambling debts" and became involved in order to repay these monies.
The dad-of-two missed the birth of his second child in October while in custody. Mr Flynn added: "He is devastated.
"He is going to miss those milestones in relation to his children growing up. He only has himself to blame for that."
Meanwhile, the younger Dyer "allowed his address to be used for cutting and bagging drugs for onward supply" and was "primarily" paid in substances which he was using to "self-medicate" - as well as selling to "close acquaintances". He has a total of 25 previous convictions for 40 offences.
Frank Dillon, appearing on his behalf, said he had played a "passive role" and had "limited involvement". He told the court: "He was a heavy user of cocaine by way of self-medication because of a medical diagnosis he had received in terms of his mental health problems.
"He had also suffered a severe bereavement. He was in a bad place.
"He was involved because he was vulnerable to persuasion - if not exploitation - due to his mental health problems, his addiction and his recent bereavement. He is not a significant cog in this wheel.
"He is receiving drugs to feed his addiction. His expectation of gain was limited to feeding his habit."
Both brothers - who appeared via video link to HMP Altcourse - admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine, while Scott Dyer also pleaded guilty to money laundering. He was jailed for nine-and-a-half years, while Joseph Dyer was handed four years.
Sentencing, Judge Anil Murray said to the former: "There was clearly an expectation of significant financial reward. You were clearly organising the supply of drugs on a commercial scale and you involved others, including your younger brother."
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