Richard Hughes made an ill-fated bid for freedom as he was locked up by a judge
Richard Hughes(Image: Merseyside Police)
A drug dealer tried to jump out of the dock to escape from court after he was found with crack cocaine in his underwear. Richard Hughes was being remanded into custody by a judge when he attempted to leap to his freedom.
He was unable to make it of the court building and was instead detained by police. The drug dealer was in court after he was found with dozens of wraps of cocaine months prior.
In another incident, Hughes was found with some more crack inside his boxers. Liverpool Crown Court heard today, Thursday (September 4), that plain clothes police spotted a group of drug users in the area of Oakdale Road and Shakespeare Road in Wallasey, Wirral, on February 8 last year.
Sarah Egan, prosecuting, described how, when detained, officers noted Hughes’ phone to be “ringing constantly”, while he was also found to be in possession of £165 in cash.
The 46-year-old went on to comment that he “had just scored”, with 32 wraps of crack cocaine subsequently being found hidden in his shoe when he was later strip-searched, reports the ECHO.
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On December 16 2024, police then observed Hughes engaging in a hand-to-hand transaction with the driver of a van on St Columba’s Close in Wallasey. The defendant attempted to swallow a wrap of drugs when he became aware of the presence of the PCs, although he later spat the item out when he was detained following a struggle.
A further four wraps were also found hidden in his underwear, as well as £213.18 of cash in a bag. Officers went on to search a house which Hughes had been seen leaving moments earlier, seizing a Nokia mobile phone which contained incoming message requesting “lem”.
With a warrant for his arrest having been issued for his arrest after he failed to attend an earlier plea and trial preparation hearing, he eventually surrendered himself to the court on June 12 this year but then “jumped the dock” as he was being remanded into custody by a judge. However, he ultimately “didn’t make it out of the building” and was detained once more.
Hughes, of Mill Lane in Liscard, Wirral, has 33 previous convictions for 67 offences dating back to 1996, but none relating to the supply of drugs. Lucy Moran, defending, told the court: “He tells me that he was not dealing for a significant period of time. He tells me that he owed his dealers £1,000 and was under threat, which is why he started dealing.
“He tells me that he has been addicted to heroin and crack cocaine ever since he can remember. His advantage was limited to meeting his own habit. He has COPD from heavy smoking and drug misuse over a period of years. He knows that he needs to distance himself from those who have a negative influence on him.
“He knows that what he has done is wrong, and he knows that he has to move on. He has been clean, he tells me, since he has been on remand. He had a difficult childhood.”
Hughes admitted possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply, possession of crack cocaine and failing to surrender to bail. Appearing in the dock wearing a turquoise Emporio Armani t-shirt, he was jailed for four years.
Sentencing, the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC said: “It is clear from the evidence in this case, and your antecedent record, that your activities were, quite straightforwardly, deliberate involvement in the supply of class A drugs, offences which, as you know, cause immense harm to individuals and communities. You have a long and troubled criminal history.
“This includes serious offences of robbery, burglary and wounding. Although your last conviction was in 2019, the pattern of offending over that period is persistent and plainly linked to your long standing addiction to crack cocaine and heroin.
“You have expressed a desire to change. I am told that you are responding to support while on remand. Although you have no past convictions for drug supply, I cannot ignore your extensive criminal record.”