He was a promising young man – then police looked inside his bag

An 18-year-old who was previously a promising junior boxer and community volunteer was sentenced to five years in prison yesterday after being caught in possession of a blank-firing pistol and just under an estimated £2k worth of heroin and cocaine.

Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday that Sonny Daley, 18, was put to work in the drugs trade after racking up a cannabis debt with his dealer, the Liverpool Echo reported. Defence counsel Lloyd Morgan told the court that Daley had been in college and “heavily involved” in amateur boxing before he began using cannabis at 15, where he then accrued a debt.

“Pressure was applied on him to deal drugs and carry a firearm, which he believed was a fake,” Mr Morgan said.

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Daley eventually came to the attention of the authorities on the afternoon of July 25 this year, when police on patrol in Grant Gardens, Everton, spotted Daley with a JD Sports bag over his shoulder. The teen, of Tordelow Close, Everton, “appeared to be dealing to drug addicts”, and officers attempted to stop him as a result.

But Derek Jones, prosecuting, described how he instead "discarded" some of the illicit substances in his possession and ran off towards Everton Road. Daley then continued onto Bright Street before turning down an alleyway leading to Churton Court, where PCs "heard rustling from a bush" and discovered the defendant's hiding place.

His bag was also located nearby along with further wraps of drugs. When officers looked inside, they "immediately noted what appeared to be a firearm", alongside £890 in cash.

A total of 31 wraps of crack cocaine worth an estimated £660, 44 wraps of cocaine valued at £880 and 22 wraps of heroin with a street value of around £440 were seized. Daley told officers at the scene the weapon was "fake" but, when analysed, it was found to be a converted Turkish-manufactured blank-firing pistol which was successfully test fired.

It was also loaded with four bullets which had themselves been converted from blanks. However, the gun was not linked to any previous shootings.

Upon being told that Daley had no previous convictions, Judge Simon Medland KC told the defence: "Your client is 18 and of previous good character. What a terrible shame."

“It is infinitely depressing,” the judge continued. “Some people seem to think that dealing drugs is glamourous. It is not. It destroys people's lives. Guns in particular are an absolute menace."

In mitigation, Mr Morgan said that Daley had previously been in college looking at a career working on the railways. “He is a young man, I am sure your honour will acknowledge from references, who not only had a lot of promise in society but had already contributed a lot to organisations with which he was involved.”

“This included an amateur boxing club and Everton youth community - where he received member of the year a couple of years previously. To have fallen from a young man of such promise illustrates some underlying problems in the community.

“He is utterly ashamed. He did ask me to express his shame and regret over his involvement. He knows he has not only let himself and his family down, but he recognises the ills that this perpetuates on society.”

"Since he has been in Altcourse on remand, he has not wasted his time. He is employed as a wing cleaner. He wishes to try and re-engage with getting a job on the railways upon his discharge from prison. The family support is here. They will continue to offer their support to Mr Daley, recognising that this is a good person who has fallen foul of criminality but is not a lost cause."

Sentencing, Judge Medland said: "It is of great sadness that a young man of promise and previous good character and with a good family and social support should have fallen so far down as to be behaving in this way. Any person who thinks that drugs are somehow glamourous should be very swiftly disavowed of that.

"Drugs destroy people's lives. They corrode society, they break up families and they do nothing but harm. You are a living example of that. Despite the many advantages you have had in life, and your promise as a young boxer, you began taking cannabis. That brought you into contact with serious criminals who then put you to work.

"By working as you were, you were helping to perpetuate the cycle of depravity and despair which drugs bring to people's lives. You were doing so while armed with a working pistol which was loaded.

"You may have thought it was still a blank firing pistol but, by the time you had it, the original colouring had been painted over in black and it was loaded with four bullets and it worked. This is very serious criminal offending, even for a young man of previous good character."

Daley admitted possession of a prohibited firearm, possession of ammunition without a certificate, possession of heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply and possession of criminal property. Appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse wearing a blue Under Armour t-shirt, he was jailed for five years and four months.