Sheffield drug-dealer who used 'Goldie' drugs line caught supplying cocaine and heroin to undercover police

Sheffield Crown Court heard on March 10 how Joel Norman, aged 22, of Bowden Wood Avenue, near Handsworth, Sheffield, admitted seven counts of supplying class A drug cocaine between February and May 2021 and he also admitted one count of supplying heroin from May 4, 2021.

Stephen Grattage, prosecuting, said: “The defendant was a supplier of class A drugs through the dealer line Goldie throughout which users of drugs can have the drugs delivered to them.

"Two officers infiltrated the line through a third-party drug-user passing the number to them.”

Mr Grattage explained the police sting was part of the wider Operation Musketeer where dealer phone lines have been infiltrated by police across the region and consequently a great number of defendants have been arrested and processed through the judicial system.

He added: “These dealer lines were becoming a real problem in Sheffield which led to an increase of drug-dealing on the streets of Sheffield and also associated with that was a rise of serious violence including the use of firearms in the region.”

Mr Grattage said a female undercover officer contacted the line and received marketing messages about drug availability and arrangements were made for Norman to supply her with cocaine on six occasions between February and May, 2021.

Another undercover officer also arranged to meet the defendant on May 4, 2021, and he was supplied with cocaine and heroin.

Mr Grattage said: “The way the lines work is that there is a person controlling the line and then sending runners to deal the drugs.”

Clarkson Baptiste, defending, said Norman was someone who had been coerced into the offending and a report suggested there were grounds to believe Norman had been the victim of modern-day slavery.

Mr Baptiste added that Norman has qualifications and skills and his ambition is to establish his own clothing brand as a designer.

Recorder Jeremy Baker-Hill recognised Norman has mental health issues and that there was a belief that he had been the victim of modern-day slavery.

He sentenced Norman to four years of custody and confiscated £722 which the police recovered from the defendant.

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