The dad was arrested after police found out what he was up to on Instagram
Cormac Graham, of Ardleigh Grove, aged 24(Image: Merseyside Police)
A drug dealer who conducted his business via Instagram was arrested at Liverpool John Lennon Airport on his way home from Amsterdam. Cormac Graham gained thousands of followers on his “active and popular” social media account, which he used to advertise cannabis for sale under the name “Liverpool Loud Packs”.
The dad was then caught red handed with a quantity of drugs which he had attempted to smuggle back into the UK from the Netherlands. He has now been convicted of trafficking offences for a second time.
Liverpool Crown Court heard this afternoon, Tuesday, that Graham was stopped by police at the airport on July 6 this year and found to be in possession of small quantities of both cannabis and magic mushrooms “for his own use”. It came after the 24-year-old, of Ardleigh Grove in Old Swan, was linked to the Instagram account “Liverpool Loud Packs”, which had been used to offer cannabis to sale to followers from February 2023 onwards.
Olivia Randell, prosecuting, described how the defendant’s email address and phone number had been used to set up the page, while two phones which were seized from him upon his arrest were both still logged into the profile. It was meanwhile established that the account’s most frequently used IP address was at his mum’s house.
Graham has eight previous convictions for 16 offences, including receiving 32 months behind bars for being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine in November 2022. Peter White, defending, told the court: “He is a relatively young man. He tells me that he has been diagnosed with ADHD and is on the autism spectrum. He tells me that he has self medicated with cannabis. He is a heavy cannabis user.
“He has an 18-month-old child. He tells me that his time in custody is the first time he has been away from his partner, and the trip to Amsterdam, when they were both arrested on their return, was their first trip away without their little girl. He can only apologise for his lapse back into criminality. He has deprived his family of a father figure and partner.”
Graham admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis and fraudulently evading the prohibition on the importation of cannabis and psilocybin. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a grey prison issue jumper, he was jailed for 12 months.
Sentencing, Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said: “You are still a young man. This is the second drug supply conviction that you have had. As far as this is concerned, it was a relatively sophisticated offence. You set up your business via an Instagram account, advertising cannabis for sale.
“There were large amounts of followers, almost 3,000 people. It goes to show that it was clearly an active and popular account. It was not a constant enterprise where you were involved in daily supply. Nonetheless, it was an extended period of time.”