Drug trafficker rocked by jail sentence

Published on 11th January 2007 in News

FORMER sun-bed hire boss Ricky Holden has been jailed after being caught with more than £18,000 worth of drugs and benefiting from a £200,000 criminal lifestyle.

Career drug-trafficker Mr Holden (40) was told by a judge that he had played a part in an 'evil trade' responsible for 'misery, violence and death'. A custodial sentence of four years and nine months had to follow.

Judge Michael Mettyear also warned Mr Holden that if he were caught again intending to deal in class A drugs he would serve a minimum of seven years.

Mr Holden, who has 15 previous convictions for 29 offences, was sentenced at Hull Crown Court after he resorted to couriering drugs – his third drugs conviction after early release from a two-year prison sentence for drug possession.

Mr Holden, whose wife was in court to see him sentenced, swayed on his feet and shook his head in disbelief as he was told he would be made a long–term prisoner.

Crown barrister Nicholas Adlington told the court how Mr Holden was spotted picking up nine cannabis bars in a yellow Netto carrier bag at Pontefract racecourse on July 26, 2006.

He was seen to hand over money in the car park and drive away in a Nissan sports car, taking a back route via Airmyn to Goole. The cannabis was thrown out of a window and later found scattered as detectives rushed to raid his home. They found two dealer lists, Batman-logo drugs bags and £3,500 in cash.

Mr Adlington said Mr Holden's back yard was guarded by a young Rottweiler; hidden in a fence panel was a stash of class A drugs.

Mr Holden, of Charles Drive in Goole, had earlier pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply three kilos of cannabis resin worth £12,960, 34 grammes of heroin worth £1,730, 27 grammes of crack cocaine in 137 wraps worth £2,740, and six grammes of cocaine.

The court heard he had convictions including assaulting police, possession of offensive weapons and shoplifting and had a background of cannabis and cocaine abuse.

When asked by police to account for his lifestyle he admitted to motor trading and sun-bed hire in the past but little else.

The court heard that because a judge had deemed his criminal lifestyle had netted him £200,000, Mr Holden had a court debt of £17,000 to repay under the Proceeds of Crime Act which hung over him when he was released from prison. The act is designed to strip criminals of the profits of crime.

Defence barrister Tony Stevenson said the debt had forced him to re-mortgage the equity of his home to raise £10,000, but a dealer found he was short of money and offered him the chance to earn £200 at Pontefract.

Mr Stevenson said Mr Holden knew this was illegal but was desperate. It emerged in court that despite being warned to repay £17,000 or face 12 months in prison he still owed £16,280 and had spent £6,000 of the re-mortgage cash.

Jailing Mr Holden, Judge Mettyear ordered him to stand as he told him he was immersed in the criminal world. "Drugs cause misery. Drugs cause violence. Drugs cause death," he said. "You played your part. Although not in this case by dealing, you acted as a courier for people who dealt them out.

"It seems to me, from the record of your criminal lifestyle, that the part you played in this evil trade is so serious only an immediate custodial sentence can be justified."

Judge Mettyear ordered the destruction of the drugs and forfeiture of money seized. Mr Holden was jailed for four years for the drugs offences and a further nine months for being in default of £17,000.

* Speaking after the hearing, a spokesman for Humberside police's financial investigation team said that despite Mr Holden now paying around £5,000, he still owed in the region of £12,000. The debt would hang over him, attracting eight per cent interest a year.

She said: "That remains to be paid and we will continue to pursue it.

"The unit must now consider if Mr Holden has any assets which could be recovered."