A taxi driver has been jailed after police stopped him for speeding and discovered he was couriering a stash of drugs. Peter McFadden, 55, of Guilsted Road in Norris Green, was sentenced to 38 months in prison at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday after admitting possession of MDMA with intent to supply and possession of criminal property.
McFadden claimed he agreed to transport a kilogram of so-called pink cocaine — a mixture of ecstasy and ketamine also known as tusi — to pay off gambling debts after being approached by a mystery man in a bookmakers. He said he received £100 for the courier job and an additional £50 to hold cash found at his home.
Caught after speeding stop
The court heard McFadden came to police attention shortly before 2.30pm on June 4 this year while driving along Croxteth Hall Lane. Officers noticed a smell of cannabis and saw him trying to hide an object under his seat. He was reluctant to get out of the car and appeared nervous before confessing to having a kilogram of pink ketamine in his possession. Two packages weighing a combined 995g were recovered from the vehicle.
A search of his home uncovered £11,250 in cash inside a wardrobe. In a basis of plea accepted by the prosecution, McFadden said he began gambling to pay for his cocaine addiction and was left in substantial debt. He claimed that while visiting a bookmakers he got speaking to a man who suggested he could earn money working as a courier, and agreed to do so on a couple of occasions until he was caught.
Boxing coach's fall from grace
Defending, John Weate told the court that McFadden had previously volunteered as a boxing coach and had never served a custodial sentence. He said: "He takes full responsibility for his actions. He has asked me to apologise that he finds himself in this position. He was clearly at a low point in his life, which goes back to the trauma of what happened to him and his wife in 2013. In 2013, they lost twins and, as a consequence of that, his wife took solace in drink and the defendant developed an addiction to cocaine."
Weate added that McFadden got into debt and started gambling, and although he gave up cocaine and his wife gave up drinking, he did not give up gambling, which led him to where he found himself.
Judge's sentencing remarks
Sentencing, Recorder Nicola Daley said McFadden was candid that this was not the only occasion he had moved parcels, but it was a limited number and a mitigating feature that he believed it to be ketamine rather than class A drugs. She said: "The cash recovered you knew was a large quantity. That amount of money must have required you to be trusted by those for whom you were storing it, but I accept that trust is different to having any form of influence."
The judge accepted McFadden was naïve and vulnerable through his addiction and had no relevant convictions for 23 years. She noted the pre-sentence report spoke of the debt from gambling, which started after his wife miscarried twins in 2013, and that he had been approached at a betting shop and agreed to drop something off for payment. She accepted he was genuinely remorseful.
Recorder Daley said a letter from McFadden's wife described her as saddened and heartbroken, and that she relied on him as she continues to suffer with fibromyalgia. The judge added: "I accept that you performed a limited function under direction. The involvement was through naivety and the exploitation of your gambling addiction, and you had no influence on those above you in the chain."
She concluded: "You are to be sentenced for very serious offending. The supply of class A drugs causes immense harm to so many different individuals, families and the wider community. Those who traffic substances profit from the addiction, misery and degradation of users."
McFadden wiped his eyes with a tissue as he was jailed, telling supporters in the public gallery "see yous all later" and reaching over a glass pane to hold a woman's hand, adding "love you" as he was led to the cells.
