A COUNTY lines drug dealer who resumed selling drugs just hours after appearing in court has been jailed.
Bradley Moore, 25, a drug user, was so intoxicated when he was arrested in March last year that police had to take him to hospital.
Liverpool Crown Court heard Moore had been supplying cocaine into St Helens, operating two separate drug lines using mobile phones to advertise the drugs to customers.
Moore pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine with intent to supply and two counts of being concerned in the supply of cocaine.
Sentencing him on Monday afternoon (January 19), Recorder Andrew Vinson said drug supply was a “pernicious element of society” and warned those responsible should expect to be sent to prison.
Prosecuting barrister Holly Menary told the court Moore was first arrested on March 26, 2025, after police attended an address on Park Road.
Officers discovered 56.7 grams of cocaine, along with cannabis and other drug-related items. Scales were found in Moore’s pocket.
Moore was under the influence of drugs at the time of his arrest and was taken to hospital. When interviewed by police, he denied being a drug dealer.
Ms Menary said Moore was responsible for running a cocaine supply line, sending messages to 983 recipients, including promotions advertising the “best deals about”.
However, on Friday, November 7, 2025, while on bail, officers attended his address on Brook Cottage Close in Peasley Cross.
They found a similar quantity of cannabis and a Samsung mobile phone.
In an offence described as almost “identical” to the first, Moore had set up another drug line supplying cocaine, sending messages to 4,429 recipients advertising the drug.
During a police interview, Moore claimed he had been “threatened into holding the device for one day”.
The court heard Moore’s drug operation was paused for just one day, when he appeared in court on October 24 last year over a breach of bail.
However, by 5pm that same day, Moore was back using the “graft phone” and his “normal operation resumed”.
Ms Menary said Moore had 14 previous convictions for 18 offences, including drug possession, and had expected to gain a “significant financial advantage” from his offending.
Defending, Mr Birrell asked the judge to give Moore credit for his guilty pleas.
He said Moore’s extreme intoxication at the time of his arrest “gives you some idea of the level of professionalism here”, adding: “He is a young man and one often sees young men holding the line at the behest of older, more sophisticated men.”
Recorder Vinson said aggravating features included Moore’s previous convictions, “although none were at this level of seriousness”, and the fact he committed further offences while on bail.
The judge noted in mitigation that Moore is a "relatively young man" and that this would be his first prison sentence and had been "taking steps in prison, abstaining from the taking of drugs."
Passing sentence on Moore, who appeared via video link from custody, the judge said: “The supply of drugs is a pernicious element of society which causes harm far beyond those who sell and those who buy. The ripple effect spreads to families, loved ones and the health services.”
“There needs to be a recognition that offences of this nature will result in custodial sentences. There is no alternative to a custodial sentence today.”
The judge said he would have imposed a five‑year prison sentence after trial, reduced by 25 per cent to three years and nine months for Moore’s guilty pleas, with a further reduction of 113 days for time spent on an electronic curfew.
Moore was jailed for three years and 160 days, with sentences for the offences running concurrently.
Share