A drug boss was arrested after he stepped off a plane at Manchester Airport.
Paul Martin’s home had been searched while he was out of the country in Thailand. Officers caught up with him after he returned home following a period in the Far East.
And his arrest at the airport spelled bad news for two of his accomplices. Manchester Crown Court heard that an iPhone seized from Martin revealed Callum Leigh and Layton Kormoss’ involvement in drug dealing.
READ MORE: ‘Self-serving coward’s’ first account to police after death of young mum in his bed caught on body cam footage
Leigh was Martin’s junior partner in the cocaine racket, while Kormoss was his ‘upstream supplier’. The trio, all from Salford, have now faced justice. Prosecutors told how officers discovered two debtors lists during the first search of Martin’s home, in June last year while he was not present, totalling £33,700 and £18,255.
Also seized was 23g of cocaine and drugs paraphernalia. Martin, 37, was held by police two months later when he flew home.
“He was arrested upon his return to Manchester Airport on August 8 last year,” prosecutor Adam White said. “It was on that occasion a telephone was seized from him, and investigation shone the light upon the other two defendants.”
Police raided Martin’s home again in February, where officers discovered debtors’ lists totalling £9,750 and £3,580. They seized four grams of cocaine and further drug paraphernalia.
Evidence discovered on the phone revealed Martin issuing ‘threats of violence’ and ‘abusive messages’ to those who did not pay up. A particular customer ended up owing Martin thousands of pounds at one point, Mr White said.
Prosecutors said that Martin dealt directly with addicts, who would place orders for cocaine and cannabis. Leigh, 34, was said to have been a junior partner who worked with Martin.
Kormoss, 40, was an ‘upstream supplier’ who supplied Martin with drugs to sell. Police raided two homes linked to him in March last year, discovering a debtors list worth £62,450 and cash totalling £11,430.
On Friday, Martin was jailed for five years and three months. His barrister Daniel Lister said that Martin wants to ‘change his behaviour’ to offer a ‘better influence’ to his child. He said Martin has ‘enthusiastically’ taken opportunities while in prison on remand to better himself.
Kormoss was sentenced to four years and six months. Sophia Dower, defending Kormoss, said the defendant had not been aware that Martin had offered threats of violence. She said it was his first offence since 2010 and his remand into prison represented his first experience of jail. “This has been a hard lesson learned,” she said.
David James, representing Leigh, said the defendant had no previous convictions and was holding down a full time job. He said that at the time he was dealing with his ‘demons’, and that ‘alcohol and cocaine muse really took a hold of him’. The intoxication made Leigh’s life a ‘blur’, he said.
“He recognises his arrest may have saved him,” Mr James said. “It needed to happen, his life had spiralled out of control.” He said that Leigh has made efforts to rehabilitate himself. Leigh was sentenced to a two year community order, to include 300 hours of unpaid work and 30 rehabilitation activity requirement.
Martin, of Normanton Avenue, Salford, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, possession of amphetamine, being concerned in the supply of cannabis and possessing criminal property. Leigh, of Quarry Pond Road, Salford; and Kormoss, of Blackleach Drive, Salford; both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine.
