Sheffield drug dealer with 'deplorable upbringing' given second chance and warned not to 'end up like his dad'

A judge has told a Sheffield man not to ‘end up like his father,’ after the pair admitted being involved in the same Class A drug dealing operation. 

While 24-year-old Bailey Crowe was given a second chance to start again with a suspended sentence and rehabilitation order, his father, Mark Birch, of Longley Avenue West, Norwood, Sheffield, was jailed for the same set of drug offences. 

Unlike Crowe - who prior to being caught with heroin and crack cocaine had a clean criminal record - Sheffield Crown Court was told Birch’s contains 71 offences from 31 previous convictions, and dates back to June 1991. 

Birch, aged 48, and Crowe’s drug dealing was exposed after patrolling police officers spotted, and approached, a Fiat vehicle travelling on Masbrough Road, Rotherham, that was believed to be linked to a wanted individual, prosecutor, Stephanie Hollis, told a hearing held on April 10, 2024. 

“Birch said he had bought the vehicle a week earlier…and the officer noticed he appeared agitated,” Ms Hollis said, adding that the same officer witnessed him ‘push an item between his son’s legs’. 

The ‘item’ was found to be several wraps of suspected Class A drugs, along with a ‘small quantity’ of cannabis, the court heard. 

Ms Hollis said the vehicle - which had been fitted with false plates - was subsequently searched and a ‘Kinder egg’ plastic container containing drug wraps was found in the footwell of the vehicle, along with a ‘dealer list’ containing numbers and a packet of pregabalin. 

A second Kinder egg, a second dealer list and £405 in cash was also recovered from the vehicle, while four jars containing cannabis were found at Birch’s home address.

Ms Hollis said analysis of the drugs seized, and their estimated street value, revealed that the father-and-son duo were in possession of £380 worth of cocaine and £740 worth of heroin. 

The cannabis recovered from the pair was said, and accepted, to be for ‘personal use’. 

Phones recovered from both defendants contained evidence of drug dealing communication, Ms Hollis told the court. 

Birch and Crowe, of Bolsover Road, Fir Vale, Sheffield, both pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of Class A drugs, namely heroin and cocaine, and one count of possession of cannabis at an earlier hearing. 

Ms Hollis said both defendants successfully entered a basis of plea, with Birch’s stating that he had an ‘ongoing Class A drug addiction’ which had caused him to fall into debt and he began selling drugs himself to pay off that debt. 

Birch also stated, through his basis of plea, that he had not ‘coerced’ his son into becoming involved with the criminal enterprise. Crowe, however, admitted to becoming involved over concerns for his father. 

Both men stated the enterprise had only been started around three weeks before they were caught by police on May 9, 2022, which was accepted by both prosecutors and The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC. 

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Defending Birch, Tim Gaubert said Birch had been the victim of an assault, which post dated his offending and had left him with a bleed on the brain. 

Mr Gaubert also told the court that Gaubert has caring responsibilities for, and lives with, his second son, who is aged 15, and would be detrimentally affected should he be sent to prison. 

Sam Roxborough, defending Crowe, said: “He did something wrong for reasons he felt - no doubt wrongly - at the time [were necessary] for the protection of his father, described to the Probation Service as a sense of loyalty.  

“This was no doubt a terrible lapse in judgement, but he’s now aware and understands the effect these sort of offences can have on others.”

Mr Roxborough suggested Crowe had endured a difficult and ‘chaotic’ upbringing, which included periods in care, and was now ‘very keen’ to enter into employment. He suggested his client, and the public, might be better served if Crowe was dealt with in the community, given his lack of previous convictions and the fact he has not re-offended in the almost two years since the drug offences were committed. 

Judge Richardson jailed Birch for two years, eight months, but said he felt able to suspend Crowe’s two-year prison sentence for two years after considering his ‘relative’ youth and lack of previous convictions, coming to the conclusion that he had a ‘realistic prospect of rehabilitation’. 

“You’ve had the most deplorable upbringing. I’m convinced that if you should be sent to prison immediately there is a real risk of corrupting you into a real life of crime. I’m trying to pull you away from that, but there must be punitive elements to all of this,” Judge Richardson said. 

He ordered Crowe to complete 200 hours of unpaid work, a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement and to return to court every three months for reviews on his progress. 

Judge Richardson told Crowe ‘I’m throwing you a lifeline,’ and urged him to ‘grab it with both hands’.

“If you don’t, you will end up like your father,” Judge Richardson warned him.