Sheffield gambling addict sold heroin and crack for nearly two years to pay debts, court hears
A former Sheffield barber sold heroin and crack in a “profitable” drugs line for nearly two years to pay gambling debts, a court heard.
Sheldon Jordan, aged 31, had been “encouraged” to set up the ‘6145’ line to “pay off his debts”, said his barrister.
However he was the “principle controller” of the line and was tracked travelling with it between South Yorkshire, Chesterfield, Liverpool, Leeds and London, said prosecutor Oliver Norman.
He is said to have run the drugs line between December 2023 and October 2025. The court heard the “ever-expanding” line “broadcast” the message “active” to 870 people over a nine-day period in early 2024.
Prosecutor Oliver Norman described how when Jordan was arrested he was found in a bedroom with £4,000-£5,000 cash in a suit pocket.
Mr Norman said it was the prosecution case that Jordan played a significant role in the enterprise.
The prosecutor said: “On February 2 2024 Mr Jordan was captured on CCTV purchasing a voucher to top up the drugs line.
“Both phones (his personal and the drugs line) were used to book numerous taxis to his home.”
Jordan’s personal phone was in frequent contact with the drugs line and his co-defendant Bilal Shah, said Mr Norman.
Mr Norman said Shah’s involvement was much lesser than Jordan’s, having only become involved towards the end of the operation. However he was linked with the drugs line on several occasions and caught with 10 wraps of heroin and four wraps of cocaine.
The court heard Shah, 24, had no previous convictions however Jordan had been jailed for 15 years in 2012, when he was still a youth, for grievous bodily harm.
Jordan’s barrister Jessica Strange said her client had started dealing to pay off debts accrued through a “gambling addiction”.
She said: “People encouraged him to do this to pay off his debts.”
The defendant, in custody on recall at HMP Doncaster, had previously run a barber business after being released from jail in 2019. She added: “He wants to settle down and be a good man to his partner and family.”
Shah, the court heard, had penned a letter from jail in which he offered his “sincere remorse”, adding: “There’s no excuse for the choices I made.”
Jordan, of Foxhill Crescent, was jailed for three years and three months. He admitted being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin and acquiring criminal property.
Shah, of Exeter Drive, Broomhall, was jailed for 24 months suspended for 24 months, handed 300 hours of unpaid work and 15 rehabilitation activity days.
He admitted possessing with intent to supply crack and making an offer to supply heroin.