Cocaine dealer who fled from court jailed after being caught with £100,000 worth of drugs

A cocaine dealer who fled from court has been jailed after being caught with £100,000 worth of drugs.

Mark Draper was put behind bars this week after turning his apartment into a base for breaking down and repackaging cocaine and crack cocaine. He and his accomplice Dylan Hyams were found to be linked to the operation after their fingerprints were found on blocks of illicit substances.

Our sister title, the Liverpool Echo, told in 2017 how Draper fled Liverpool Crown Court after appearing in the dock for another drug trafficking charge. He claimed he needed to go to the toilet but moments later, the then 27-year-old seized on the opportunity to flee from the building.

Prosecutors told the court that t he had been one of three men who were arrested after a police chase in Bootle which saw a Volkswagen Golf crash into an Audi Q7 and a Ford Focus. When officers searched the car, they seized 8.87g of 78% pure crack cocaine valued at £880. Text messages discovered on Draper's meanwhile laid bare that he had been involved in supplying the drugs.

He ran from the vehicle but was caught hiding in bushes in a nearby garden. Appearing in court in January that year, he indicated a guilty plea to a charge of possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply.

The same court heard on Wednesday that Merseyside Police then executed a search warrant at his flat on Belem Close in Aigburth on January 10, 2022. Nobody was inside so officers forced entry to the property, but they seized a quantity of cocaine worth up to £90,000 and £5,500 of crack cocaine from a Footasylum bag in the bedroom.

James Coutts, prosecuting, described how around £1,600 in cash was also recovered from the address, as was a "large empty package with remnants of white powder". This was said to have been "consistent with a kilogram deal being subdivided" into the three separate blocks of cocaine discovered within the apartment.

One of these, weighing half a kilo, was found with Hyams' DNA on it. Another quarter-kilogram parcel contained Draper's DNA. Hyams, of no fixed address, has 19 previous convictions for 29 offences - including receiving 10 years in 2016 for robbery.

The now 31-year-old was released from this sentence on license in April 2021, then was handed a further four years in February 2022 for conspiracy to commit burglary. This came after Hyams and a gang of criminals travelled to Yorkshire to raid a family home and steal heirlooms.

Anthony O'Donohoe, appearing on his behalf, told the court during his latest appearance: "The property was not his. There was nothing linking him to the matter, other than his fingerprints. Could we really say anything more than he has a role being involved, at some point, in some way, in the packaging of the cocaine? He says he was a regular visitor to that property.

"His previous convictions do not shed him in a good light, but there are no drug trafficking convictions on his record. He has a partner who is standing by him, and they have a son together. He tells me that he has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. His physical health is good, and he wants to embrace his inevitable time in custody as positively as he can."

Hyams was found guilty of being concerned in the supply of cocaine by a jury. He was cleared of being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine.

Appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse, he was jailed for six-and-a-half years. Draper admitted possession of crack cocaine and cocaine with intent to supply and possession of cannabis. He was handed four years and four months behind bars.

Sentencing, Recorder Kendrick Horne said: "Mark Draper, you used your flat as a base for storing wholesale quantities of cocaine and crack cocaine and breaking them down for onward distribution. Dylan Hyams, your DNA was found on a half-kilogram cocaine package. The jury rejected your explanation as to how that came to be there. They must have been sure that you were actively involved in the repackaging.

"Both of you expected to make significant amounts of money. Mark Draper, you intended to pay off some or all of your rental arrears, totalling thousands of pounds. There is no evidence that either of you were funding a lavish lifestyle. I am sure, however, that both of you were actively involved in putting quantities of drugs into bags."

To Hyams, the judge said: "You have spent your time in custody productively. I also bear in mind what is said about your mental health."

Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.