Retired taxi driver supplemented pension as cocaine courier, Leeds court hears

A retired taxi driver looking to supplement his pension has been jailed after police caught him with tens of thousands of pounds worth of cocaine.
By Nick Frame
Published 13th Oct 2022, 16:30 GMT
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Sixty-nine-year-old Anthony Deegan became involved in shipping high-purity drugs from Lancashire to Yorkshire in his VW car, Leeds Crown Court heard.

The vehicle was stopped by police on the northbound carriageway of the M1 at Leeds on August 30.

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He confessed to officers immediately that there were drugs under the seat, prosecutor Satpal Roth-Sharma told the court.

Deegan was caught with cocaine in his car, and even more was recovered from his flat.Deegan was caught with cocaine in his car, and even more was recovered from his flat.
Deegan was caught with cocaine in his car, and even more was recovered from his flat.

They found a Tesco carrier bag containing 247 grammes of cocaine. Tested, it was found to be 89 per cent pure with a street value up to £24,700.

They then searched his home at Acorn Way, Thorpe Willoughby in North Yorkshire, where they found more cocaine and 530 deals of crack cocaine worth a a total of up to £34,000.

He lived alone and told police he met a former taxi customer several months ago who persuaded him to drive him to Manchester to retrieve a package.

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He said that the person then used his flat to weigh out cocaine, claiming the drugs found at his flat belonged to that man.

He admitted he completed four trips to Manchester and the journey on which he was stopped by police had been his first solo trip, after picking up a package at a Burger King in Salford.

Deegan admitted possessing Class A drugs with an intent to supply.

He has previous convictions for theft and fraud.

Mitigating, Stuart Field said that father-of-four Deegan retired from taxi driving four years ago.

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He said he initially wanted nothing to do with the illegal enterprise, but said the former taxi customer made threats against him.

He said: “He was hampered in his free will. He should have gone to the authorities but he did not and it continued until he was arrested.

"He did not expect to be in prison at his time of life, but he accepts it must be the case.”

Judge Tom Bayliss KC jailed him for 40 months and said: “You allowed yourself to be drawn into drug dealing in quite a significant way.

"It was clearly motivated by financial advantage, but you were a courier rather than a street dealer.”