Jake Gerrard candidly admitted that he ‘viewed drug supply as his job and how he earned money’
Jake Gerrard, of Linacre Road in Litherland, aged 34(Image: Merseyside Police)
A drug dealer modelled himself on Willy Wonka while selling chocolate bars infused with magic mushrooms. Jake Gerrard labelled himself “Psilly Wonka” as he advertised his wares for sale over Instagram.
But police were ultimately able to link the account to his mum’s house and discovered drugs potentially worth more than £100,000, also including a haul of cocaine and ecstasy. He candidly went on to confess that he “viewed drug supply as his job and how he earned money”.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that, in September last year, Merseyside Police became aware of an Instagram account under the name of “Mushy Madness” which had “the sole purpose to advertise and sell drugs, principally mushrooms but also DMT”. This saw “Psilly Wonka bars”, a reference to magic mushrooms also being known as psilocybin, offered for sale to its 240 followers.
Derek Jones, prosecuting, described how the page also contained pictures of chocolate bars with wrappers under this same branding, as well as a “stylised picture of a man, clearly based on the well known character”. The account was similarly used to advertise the hallucinogenic drug DMT for sale, although the IP address it had used was eventually traced back to Gerrard’s mum’s home on Coral Drive in Bootle.
This led to search warrants being executed at both this address and the 34-year-old’s flat on Linacre Road in Litherland on November 10. Drugs were seized from both properties, including 3.74kg of “dried mushroom material”, valued at £37,453, and 1.2kg of chocolate which had already been mixed with the class A substance.
Up to £1,890 of DMT, £1,330 of high purity cocaine, 6,616 tablets of 2CB, worth as much as £66,000, and 556 ecstasy tablets, which would potentially sell for £5,560, were also recovered. Psilly Wonka branded packaging was also discovered, as were common cutting agents, 50kg of chocolate, two catering sized herb and plant grinding machines and commercial melting and tempering equipment.
Further investigations revealed that Gerrard had placed orders for 150kg of chocolate within the space of one month, including £2,000 worth in one go. A total of £8,000 in cash was meanwhile found during the raids.
Mr Jones added: “Put simply, the grinding machines were to turn the magic mushrooms into powder form, which would, in turn, be mixed together with the chocolate in the melting and tempering machine and then sold as we have seen in the pictures on the site. Clearly, the defendant had planned this in detail and invested in this criminal endeavour.”
Under interview, Gerrard “denied being involved in the drugs that were found or the Instagram account” and claimed that others had been using his mum’s house as a result of a drug debt which had been owed by his deceased brother. He has a total of 26 previous convictions for 35 offences, including receiving 45 months for possession of heroin and cocaine with intent to supply in 2015.
Gerrard was then handed a further 64 months for conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine at Preston Crown Court in 2023. He was released on licence from this sentence in October 2024.
When Judge Ian Harris noted that Gerrard had told the author of a pre-sentence report that he “viewed drug supply as his job and how he earned money”, Ken Heckle, defending, told the court: “He says he was just flippant and saying things off the top off his head, stupid things. Either that, or he has been brutally honest.
“There is limited mitigation, I have to accept that. The main mitigation is, of course, his timely guilty pleas. Since May 2023, other than two relatively short periods, he has been in custody. He is now facing a very substantial period on top of that.
“Your honour can take into account that, for more or less two-and-a-half years, he has been in prison, and he has been out for six or seven months during that period. It was his own fault, but it has been a long time.
“It went on over a very short period of time, I appreciate because he was caught. It is a very short lived operation. It is not something that has been going on for years. Other than some cash that will obviously go, and that was maybe being used in the operation, he was not living a lavish lifestyle.
“He has not got an awful lot to show for this. He was in his mother’s house and his uncle’s flat. He was not living beyond his means. He has foolishly reverted to type to make money.”
Mr Heckle added that the dad-of-one was due to become a father for the second time later this year and said: “His brother was involved. Sadly, his brother died in July of last year. He accepts his involvement. It appears that his brother set up a lot of that.”
Gerrard admitted possession of cocaine, MDMA, psilocybin, 2CB and DMT with intent to supply and being concerned in the supply of psilocybin and DMT. He was jailed for 10 years and eight months yesterday afternoon, Thursday.
Sentencing, Judge Harris said: “Drug abuse leads to large amounts of crime and violence, often lethal violence. Your actions over the years have added to this misery.
“There is an offender manger report in the papers. The report makes depressing reading. You see selling drugs as your job. You also dispute the amount of cash seized by the police, claiming that there was a lot more money seized from your premises. You have also stated that you want to remain in custody and serve your whole sentence. You have said that you will deliberately take action that will result in you being recalled.
“This was your business. You were a one-stop business, dedicated to drug supply. You are a committed and determined criminal. You prepared and made the product. I also take into account the large amount of chocolate that you had ordered in the preceding months. There is only one reason to order that amount of chocolate, which chimes with the business that you had.”
