A 63-year-old taxi driver from Toxteth has been spared prison after nearly £50,000 of cocaine was discovered inside a Sainsbury's bag in his car. Jean Nlemvo agreed to deliver the stash to a figure known only as "DDD" for a fee of £75.
Liverpool Crown Court heard on Friday that Nlemvo's vehicle was stopped as he travelled from Manchester to Liverpool along the M62 on October 15, 2024, leading to his arrest over an unrelated matter. His car was searched the following day, when police discovered an orange Sainsbury's carrier bag tied at the handles beneath the driver's seat.
The bag contained a cardboard box with a block of 485g of cocaine, which was 82 per cent pure and valued at between £19,400 and £48,500.
Claims he 'didn't know what cocaine was'
Nlemvo, of Windsor Street in Toxteth, was further held on suspicion of drug offences, at which stage he claimed he "didn't know what cocaine was". His iPhone was found to contain messages from a contact saved as "DDD", asking "where he was" before following up with "hello" around 10 minutes later, by which stage he had been detained.
Jonathan Keane, prosecuting, said there was "no information on who DDD was", although he was believed to be the intended recipient of the drugs. Nlemvo stated in a basis of plea that he had worked as a driver for Alpha Taxis for around 11 years but was "going through financial difficulties".
This led him to accept a fee of £75 to drop a package off at an address on Merseyside, with the courier having "turned a blind eye to whatever was in the parcel". He has no previous convictions.
'Perfect for OCG to use'
With Recorder Mark Shepherd remarking that the "family man" was "in some ways, a perfect man for an organised crime group to use", Matthew O'Neill, defending, told the court: "I agree, your honour. It is a very sad state of affairs."
He got himself into this due to financial difficulties. There is an element of exploitation, but he seeks not to minimise his actions. Yes, it was a large amount of drugs. He was not involved in the actual, direct selling, but, as a courier, still involved in the illegal supply of class A drugs."
With a priest having penned a reference to the court on Nlemvo's behalf, Mr O'Neill added: "Your honour will have read that he is a hard working man. He is a religious man, attending church on a weekly basis, heavily involved with his local church."
"It took him some time to realise the actions that have now brought himself here today to be sentenced for a very serious offence. He is still working, to his credit. He knows that there is a very realistic prospect of him losing his liberty today."
'Extraordinary risk'
Nlemvo admitted possession of cocaine with intent to supply on the day he was due to stand trial. He was handed a three-year imprisonment suspended for 18 months with 200 hours of unpaid work and a 12-month probation requirement.
Sentencing, Recorder Shepherd said: "It is astonishing to me that, as a 63-year-old, churchgoing, family man with children at university, you would involve yourself in this sort of organised crime for £75. That suggests a massive deficit in your consequential thinking."
"I do not know why you pleaded not guilty for as long as you did, suggesting that you did not know about this. It is not something that is going to cost you your liberty today. You are somebody who is of benefit to society. You are somebody that is safe to manage in the community, and you are somebody who presents as a realistic prospect of rehabilitating yourself."
"You came very, very close indeed. This is high purity of drug. Thinking of your regular attendance at church, thinking of your own children, the damage that these drugs do to society, it ruins lives. You, on this date, were part of that collective harm towards your community."
"I take the view that I can and should suspend that sentence in your case. That means you will not go to prison today. I have given you an opportunity today. You came very close to going to custody."
