Drug dealer who drove around Kenilworth in a sports car with the personalised number plate 'Joker' has been jailed

Police forced their way into his home after a report of someone in distress - but instead they found drugs
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It was no laughing matter for drug dealer Andrew McAulay when he arrived at a Kenilworth house in a car with a registration which seemed to read ‘Joker’ while the police were there.

He was arrested after officers found around £1,000 worth of cocaine and cannabis in the property, and at Warwick Crown Court he pleaded guilty to possessing the drugs with intent to supply.

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McAulay (28) of Clifton Grove, Kenilworth, who also admitted being concerned in the supply of ecstasy, was jailed for three years and nine months.

Andrew McAulay outside Warwick Crown Court.Andrew McAulay outside Warwick Crown Court.
Andrew McAulay outside Warwick Crown Court.

Prosecutor Andrew Wallace said that in June 2019 police officers were sent to an address in Kenilworth, after receiving a report of a female in distress.

When they arrived and knocked the door, they got no response, so they forced their way in to ensure that no harm had come to anyone inside.

There was no-one there, but they found the house was ‘a complete mess,’ and there was a strong smell of cannabis.

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A neighbour asked what they were doing and contacted McAulay who returned to the house to secure it, arriving in a Ford Focus ST with a registration which appeared to read ‘Joker.’

MaAulay, who had a previous conviction for possessing cannabis with intent, told the officers he was staying there while his mother was on holiday.

When they searched the house, the police found a plastic cement tub in the kitchen in which there were three plastic boxes and a small bag of white powder.

The boxes contained a total of 72 grams of cannabis worth £675 and the powder was 4.06 grams of cocaine worth up to £400 if sold in street deals.

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McAulay, whose fingerprints were found on the tub, was arrested, and in his car officers found a herb grinder, digital scales and two mobile phones.

One of them had messages on it which clearly related to drug-dealing, including requests such as ‘2 white, 30 green’ and ‘2 20s’ and offers such as ‘nice shiny rock.’

The phone also contained messages relating to the sale of ‘Red Bull’ and ‘Porsche’ which Mr Wallace explained were different types of ecstasy.

McAulay, who had £450 in cash and another mobile phone on him, claimed the money had come from the sale of a van – but he had no paperwork to support that.

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Shaun Logan, defending, said: “Since he was arrested he has completely turned his back on drugs. He no longer uses any class A drugs at all.

“The offences date back to 2019. He had had a cannabis habit for 12 years and a heavy cocaine habit for six or seven years. He was spending £3-400 a day on cocaine.

“There has been damage to his nose due to significant and prolonged cocaine use over the years, and he has all but destroyed his septum.

“He would spend £400 to get £700 worth, and would use half of it himself and sell the other half to support his habit. He was consuming £40 lines of cocaine in one go, and was barely sleeping.”

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Jailing McAulay, Judge Peter Cooke told him: “It has taken a long time for your time as a drug dealer to catch up with you, and the fault for that clearly does not lie with you.

“I accept your funding of an entrenched cocaine habit was at least in part what this was about.

“But you were also exhibiting something of the trappings of a drug dealer life, with a sports car with a personalised number plate.

“This was the second time you had done it. You were convicted of drug dealing in 2016, and here you were again in 2019 driving around in your dealer’s car selling cocaine and ecstasy and cannabis.”