He walked free from court but stayed out of trouble for only three days

A dad kicked a man in the head in Clayton Square Shopping Centre then turned his home into a safehouse for a gang but remains a free man. Carl Hulme was handed a suspended prison sentence after he and his friend subjected their victim to a savage racist assault in Liverpool city centre until shoppers intervened.

Only three days later, police discovered a large stash of cocaine hidden inside his house. But he has now walked free from court again after claiming he was under "financial pressure", having racked up debts with dealers higher up the chain.

Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday, Tuesday, that police discovered packages of the class A drug weighing a total of 320g inside Hulme's address on Altway in Aintree on January 19 this year. Officers also seized more than a kilogram of cutting agent benzocaine and two sets of scales containing cocaine residue from the property.

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Steven Ball, prosecuting, described how the 39-year-old told detectives under interview that he "had a drug debt and allowed a dealer to store drugs at his home and deal cocaine from his address" and that the illicit substances were "not his own drugs and he did not prepare or sell them". Hulme was said to have a "long history with the courts", including a "history of violence" and being jailed for possession of cocaine with intent to supply in 2009.

He was also handed a 16-month imprisonment suspended for 18 months for assault occasioning actual bodily harm on January 16 this year. This related to an incident on October 18 2021, when Ali Bakshi was walking through Clayton Square Shopping Centre and had his "heels clipped" by the defendant's friend Sean Roberts causing him to stumble.

When the complainant challenged them, one of the men told him "go back to your country, you f***ing foreigner" before both began kicking him and punching him. They continued to boot him in the head even after he had fallen to the floor until members of the public stopped the attack.

Eve Salter, defending, told the court: "He does have dependants. There are prospects of work for him. His employers would like to have him back at work and await the outcome.

"Financial pressures were weighing heavily upon him when he engaged in the offence. He was involved in the supply of drugs to which he was addicted at the time. It is accepted that he does have a previous for supply, but that was some 15 years ago.

"While he did play a role that was key, it was a lesser role within the overall operation. He was not seeking to receive great financial reward. He was simply trying to make up for the debt that had been accrued much earlier on in an earlier stage in his life.

"He can take steps in his life to get his life back on track. Rather than bury his head, he can put himself in a better position. He has done everything that could possibly be asked of him.

"He is eager to receive his sentence. He accepts that may be custody, but pleads with your honour to allow him one further chance to allow him to stay as a proactive father in his children's lives and engage in the employment that is available to him now."

Hulme admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine and breaching a suspended sentence order. He was handed a 20-month imprisonment suspended for two years, 60 hours of unpaid work, a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 10 days and a six-month trail monitoring requirement.

Sentencing, Judge Neil Flewitt KC told him he had been "knuckling down" with regards to the requirements of his current suspended sentence, adding: "You will understand just how close you have come to going back to prison. You went to prison back in 2009 for being involved in dealing class A drugs.

"Although you might not regard this in the same way, you are again playing a part in dealing drugs. You were giving a safehouse to somebody who was preparing these drugs for sale. You know what misery that can cause.

"Were it not for the fact that you appear to be making good progress on your suspended sentence order, I would have no hesitation in sending you to prison immediately. If you find yourself back before the court, the roof will fall in."