Sheffield Crown Court: Tearful drug dealer who fled from police in only his underpants has been jailed

Officers had been executing a search warrant at the home of James Whaley, on Hazelwood Way, Waverley, Rotherham, when he fled in his underwear and threw a box containing class A drug cocaine into a neighbouring property, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

Prosecuting barrister Ian West told the hearing on March 29 that as police had been trying to force their way into the property, partially-dressed Whaley ran away as someone else was holding the door shut, but officers managed to chase and detain the 33-year-old defendant.

Mr West said: “This defendant made good his escape through the back door dressed only in underpants and police officers chased and caught him and in doing so the defendant was seen throwing a black box into a neighbouring property.”

The box contained snap-sealed bags with cocaine, according to Mr West, and police also recovered further bags of cocaine giving a total of 144 grammes of the class A drug during the raid as well as digital weighing scales and a large amount of money.

Whaley, who has previous convictions and entered the court in tears, pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine with intent to supply after the raid on November 30, 2020.

Defence barrister Matthew Burdon said: “He submitted the cause of the offending was a cocaine addiction and as a consequence of this arrest and everything that followed from that including the temporary breakdown of his relationship he has addressed his drug addiction.”

Mr Burdon added that if father-of-three Whaley was to be jailed, a prison sentence would cause difficulties for his partner because the defendant’s 10-year-old son has health issues.

He said Whaley’s partner had come to rely heavily upon the defendant for both financial support and to look after his six-year-old child, 14-month-old baby and his 10-year son.

Mr Burdon also told Judge Graham Reeds KC: “You will have seen Mr Whaley’s demeanour when he entered the dock and - I should say – he is realistic and expects Your Honour to send him to custody today.”

Judge Reeds pointed out that Whaley has a previous conviction from 2017 after he had been caught ‘dealing cannabis’ and by 2000 he had progressed to dealing cocaine.

He told Whaley: “This was a significant business that you were operating at that time. It’s clear you were running a street-dealing business and it’s clear that appears to have been profitable – not running at a level to fund your habit, but doing it to make money.”

Judge Reeds, who sentenced Whaley to 27 months of custody, added: “Imprisonment is necessary to punish you for running this business in dealing cocaine.”

He also said: “This drug dealing business went far beyond financing your own habit which I understand you have put far behind you.”