Police seized more than £50,000 of cocaine and cannabis including Yves Saint Laurent and Dior branded blocks of drugs
Edward Attah, of Wood Heath Way in Eastham, aged 23(Image: Merseyside Police)
A drug dealer fled to Portugal after police discovered a stash of cocaine in a McDonald’s bag. Police seized more than £50,000 of illicit class A and B substance from Edward Attah after becoming suspicious of a speeding car.
This included blocks of Yves Saint Laurent and Dior branded cannabis, which the now twice-convicted trafficker said he turned to supplying after his mum’s house was petrol bombed. But, having admitted that he “grew up believing the criminal lifestyle was the norm”, he now claims to be intent on leaving his “life of self destruction” behind.
Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday afternoon, Thursday, that police patrols spotted a man leaving an address on Highfield Road in Rock Ferry, Wirral, on March 24 2023 before entering a vehicle and driving off at speed. Having suspected that a drugs transaction had taken place, officers approached the property and rang the doorbell but received no reply.
Graham Pickavance, prosecuting, described how occupants could be heard inside, while PCs were able to see blocks of cannabis through a rear window. But they were unable to gain access due to a dog being present in the back yard and called for assistance before Attah’s girlfriend Jayleigh Bradley, who was previously sentenced for permitting premises to be used for the supply of drugs, eventually opened the front door 45 minutes later.
Several items, including a McDonald’s bag filled with thousands of pounds of cocaine and blocks of cannabis containing Yves Saint Laurent and Dior branding, were then recovered from the rear of the premises. A total of £24,450 in cash and further drugs were also found stashed inside a chair within one of the bedrooms.
In total, Merseyside Police seized around 200g of cocaine, worth between £10,200 and £25,700, and 1.9kg of cannabis with a street value of up to £29,150 from the house. Attah, of Wood Heath Way in Eastham, later pleaded guilty to a series of drug offences in relation to the incident but failed to attend his sentencing hearing before the same court in September 2024.
The 23-year-old was belated arrested in Portugal on February 28 this year and returned to the UK on a flight to Heathrow Airport on March 11. He was previously handed a 20-month imprisonment suspended for two years for possession of cocaine and cannabis with intent to supply in June 2022.
This came after Attah was stopped by officers while pushing a motorbike along Wood Heath Way, being found in possession of a quantity of the class B drug at this stage. Having then shouted over to his 22-year-old partner in the window of his nearby home, this address was also searched and led to quantities of drugs and £540 in cash being discovered.
Charles Lander, defending, told the court: “His mother refers to their home being petrol bombed in 2020. The prosecution have confirmed that is factually correct. As a result of that, the defendant ultimately involved himself in drugs, which led him to the commission of the previous matter.
“He thought that all matters were behind him, but, when large amounts of drugs are seized, debts are there, and he saw no other way out of it. It led him to leaving the jurisdiction. Ultimately, he found himself in Portugal.
“He says, for the last year, he has been terrified of matters. He says that he has been trying to sort his head out. He says that finding God has given him support. His determination is to lead a law abiding life.
“As he says in his letter, he has let his mother down. He had a difficult upbringing. He went to a special school. Sadly, his step father committed suicide. Given issues with his mother’s health and now his grandmother’s health, life has not been easy for him. He accepts that he went down the wrong path.”
Attah admitted possession of cocaine and cannabis with intent to supply, possession of criminal property and breaching a suspended sentence order. Appearing via video link to HMP Wormwood Scrubs wearing a grey prison issue tracksuit with rosary beads around his neck, he was seen making the sign of the cross prior to the hearing then kissing his crucifix before he was jailed for 48 months.
Sentencing, Recorder Nicola Daley said: “You are still only 23 years old. Just nine months into the suspended sentence order, when you were 20 years of age, you committed those three offences. In total, there was just over a quarter of a kilogram of cocaine and just short of 2kg of cannabis, worth a lot of money on the streets.
“You have indicated that you started smoking cannabis when you were 15 and, thereafter, got into taking not only cannabis but cocaine and got yourself into debt. It is clear to me that you have had a difficult upbringing.
“You wanted to move on after that first offence. You wanted to get a labouring apprenticeship and had a desire to work. Yet, you became involved and, undoubtedly, involved with your partner as well.
“I have read about different neurodiverse conditions that you have been diagnosed with. You had to care for your mother, in particular during the covid lockdown. I understand how that will have affected your mental health.
“You are aware of what happened to her house because of the associations that you had with others involved in serious and organised crime. I have considered your letter. You indicate that you grew up believing that the criminal lifestyle was the norm.
“You suggest, now, that you have matured, that you can now see you had been led down that path by others. But you also acknowledge, now, that you chose that life, which you describe as being a life of self destruction.
“You say that you have now changed. I accept that you are now remorseful, and I hope that is genuine remorse. I take into account that this is your first taste of custody, but these are serious offences.”
