A man who ran a drug dealing business selling ‘herbal diazepam’ hired his mum to do the 'bookkeeping’.
Michael King, 31, managed the business from the bedroom of his family home.
After a police search of the property, officers found over 2,000 Etizolam tablets worth a total value of £12,000, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
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They also found cash boxes, expensive handbags and drug paraphernalia in his mum Debbie Hayward's bedroom.
Police recovered King’s mobile phone and found messages indicating he was drug dealing, which included debtors lists and him describing the quality of the drugs as ‘sick’.
His stepfather, Michael Hayward, 39, helped with delivering the drugs, and Debbie, 55, assisted with negotiating the payments, the court heard.
Each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class C drugs.
Prosecutor Paul Dockery told the court that on May 15 2020, at around 6.20am, officers went to the house in Moorfield Drive, Hyde, and Michael Hayward answered the door.
Debbie, his partner, was upstairs in bed, and her son was in his bedroom. Both were escorted downstairs and officers began to search the house.
“In the upstairs rear bedroom in five tin boxes on the floor was found a total of £714.58 in cash,” Mr Dockery said.
“On top of a drawer unit below the television was a plastic bag containing a small set of scales, a spoon, a number of snap seal bags and a Tupperware box containing 3.27g cocaine.
“Also they found a tub containing 1,886 tablets of Etizolam from the side of the bed; a debtor’s list, a Sony mobile, a sandwich bag on the bed containing 3 bags with 300 Etizolam tablet inside; a plastic wallet containing £1,780 on the bed; a money bag containing £169 in the bedside drawer and inside a Mulberry handbag on the bed £1,238.50.”
From King’s bedroom they seized a mobile phone and a further bag containing 6.92g of cocaine.
A drugs expert considered that the cocaine had a street value of £500.
King accepted that the cocaine found was for his own use, the court was told.
“Etizolam has a value of £5 a tablet and thus the total 2,297 tablets seized in this case on 15 May 2020 has a value of £11,485,” the prosecutor continued.
“In total, there was a profit of around half a million pounds.”
After interrogating King’s phone, officers found messages between him and Michael Heyward showing a large number of names, addresses and a phone number.
The prosecutor said this reflected a ‘steady clientele’ with a strong income suggested by the ‘good quality tablets’ on sale.
The total value of the drugs was about £12,000, he added.
King was described as the ‘head of the pyramid’, with Michael Hayward next in line to make deals and deliver, and Debbie Hayward ready to ‘step in and negotiate’.
In a police interview, Debbie said she was aware her son sold ‘herbal diazepam’ and admitted she had written the lists that had been found.
King denied that the drugs were for sale but did accept buying in bulk and then selling to make a profit. He added that his mother kept a note of the monies received, as he was a poor bookkeeper.
Both Debbie and Michael Hayward were said to have no previous convictions; King was said to have one previous conviction for driving with excess alcohol.
Mitigating for King, Andy Scott said: “He accepts he was the manager of an enterprise. He accepts he involved others, his mother and stepfather, there was no pressure or intimidation.”
Mitigating for Michael Hayward, Adam Watkins said: “He fully admits he was supporting his stepson in the illegal business. He didn’t realise just how wrong it was.
“He just thought they were herbal tablets..”
Mitigating for Debbie Hayward, Rachel Shenton said: “Her brother died in custody from a drug overdose. The irony of that is not lost on her.
“There was a serious assault on her daughter, the man left her for dead and she was left with life changing injuries. She is needed everyday.”
Sentencing, Judge Elliot Knopf said: “In this crown court and many other crown courts up and down the country, we frequently see the consequences of drug addiction.
“The effect on the addicts, the effect on their families and the effect on the victims of acquisitive crimes committed so very often by addicts to fund their addiction.
“There are those who deal in drugs to meet the demands of the addicts and find it an easy way to make money and to make a fast buck.”
King, of Moorfield Drive was jailed for three years and ten months.
Debbie and Michael Hayward, also of Moorfield Drive, were both handed 18 months imprisonment which was suspended for two years, along with 20 days of rehabilitation activity requirements, with Michael ordered to complete 200 hours unpaid work and Debbie ordered to complete 80 hours unpaid work.
A Proceeds of Crime Act Hearing was set for March 15.
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