A drug dealer who was caught red-handed with £1,000 in cash claimed that he had made the money by selling a Pomeranian dog. Paul Brimble offered heroin and cocaine for sale under the codenames "brandy and whisky" and scrawled his phone number down on cigarette papers which he would hand out to customers.
The dad-of-four even continued to operate as the "controller" of a county lines supply operation for nearly two months after his early hours arrest in Liverpool city centre. But he ignored this "shot across the bow" and ended up behind bars.
Mass marketing messages
Liverpool Crown Court heard on Tuesday afternoon that an investigation into county lines drug dealing identified two phone numbers which were used to send out "mass marketing messages" offering heroin and cocaine for sale between April and June of this year. These bulk texts referred to the two drugs as "brandy and whisky", with the phone responsible having frequently cell sited close to Brimble's home address and co-located with his own personal mobile.
Bethany Leigh, prosecuting, described how the 37-year-old defendant, of Sefton Street in Brunswick, was arrested on Seel Street at around 4am on April 14, having been stopped by police before passing a Nokia phone to another man in his company. This device was seized by officers and subsequently identified as being the device used by the drugs line.
Brimble was meanwhile carrying a shoulder bag which contained £1,000 in cash, money which he "initially suggested was from the sale of a Pomeranian dog". He was also found in possession of a number of cigarette papers with the graft line's phone numbers written on them, seemingly makeshift business cards which he would hand out to users.
But, having been released under investigation following this incident, Brimble continued with his drug dealing exploits before being arrested again in early June. He has 20 previous convictions for 28 offences, including 15 for drug possession and two matters of failing to comply with a community order during 2025.
Defence and sentencing
Ken Heckle, defending, told the court that Brimble had abstained from drug use during his remand in prison and completed a number of courses, adding: "Of course, we are in a situation where sentences are getting lesser. That is the difficult stage we are at at the moment."
"Because of that limited time, the work going on at the moment is as focussed as it can be in a custodial setting. If he is in the community, that is the time where you can do even more work. It is more intensive. It may be too much too soon, but he is showing motivation."
"There are a lot of reasons for him to be motivated. He does have three sons and a daughter, the eldest of which is 18. They are still a relatively young family. Two of them are only nine and 10. He has worked in the past."
"Homelessness and drugs and alcohol and the like have impaired his thinking skills, clearly, for some time now. He is still only 37 years of age, soon to be 38. It is whether all hope is lost for him and your honour says that only an immediate custodial sentence is merited. He clearly has the drug problem."
"There isn't mass money being made by this defendant, and he is being used by others. He has got no drug trafficking offences on his record. He is not a stupid man. He has got qualifications. He has worked in the past."
"I would say that he is somebody being used by others, and his motivation for getting involved has been the drugs, the alcohol. That is how he has been repaid for what he did, on the frontline, the most likely one to be arrested. There are shoots of hope that would be crushed by an immediate sentence of imprisonment. He can, once he is clean, drug free, alcohol free, get back to work."
Brimble admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine and possession of criminal property. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a white and grey Dolce and Gabbana jumper and with a cut under his left eye, having apparently suffered a fall in prison, he was jailed for three years.
Judge's remarks
Sentencing, Judge Katherine Pierpoint said: "For a period of two months, you were involved in county lines drug dealing. You had the control of two graft phones that were sending out bulk advertising messages to class A users, advertising the sale of both cocaine and heroin."
"You were stopped by the police during that period of time. They were able to link you to those graft phone numbers. Despite the fact that might have been a shot across your bow at that stage, you did continue in that dealing. You also had on you £1,000, which clearly showed the level that you were working at."
"I do not doubt that the background to these matters is your long standing addiction. You have had issues not only with alcohol but also with drugs. Those that involve themselves in taking drugs, sadly, often become prey to those higher up the chain, who use people such as you in their drug dealing enterprise."
"People like you assist those higher up the scale in this criminal enterprise. You only need to spend a few days in these courts to see the devastating impact that drugs have. Your life has been marred by drug use for a number of years. That is why the courts do view so seriously anybody involved in the sale of class A drugs."
"In 2025, you were caught with cocaine and given a community order of 12 months. That expired only a few months before you involved yourself in these offences. You were given the opportunity to work with the Probation Service. You were given an opportunity to address your alcohol use. You breached that order on two occasions."
"There is another side to you. You are someone who has an ability to work. You have children. You have a supportive partner. But the fact is that you have been given numerous opportunities in the past to address the issues you have, and you have not been able to take them."
"It is to your credit the efforts that you have made in the last two months while you have been in custody. It does show that you have some motivation to deal with and address the issues you have."
