Drug dealer in Oxford UK gets a reckoning in court, no excuses accepted

Oxford, England —-At Oxford Crown Court Friday (April 25), a man accused of dealing deadly drugs, including nitazene, got a seven years and six months sentence for three counts of dealing, one of those counts with a 10% discount. 

The third charge was for using a cell phone inside prison for drug operations and the discount was a "full third."

Even with differences, similarities to courts in the UK and Allen County are interesting

[I’m going to have to treat this story a little differently than the ones I write up in the States only because I haven’t quite got the hang of how they do things.

And oddly enough, in my opinion, there’s no online mycase to check charges, court appearances, anything like that. Reporters here have to show up in court to gather their facts, a prosecutor told me.]

Something I found interesting:  if you plead guilty you do 25% of your prison time, according to a prosecutor here. I replied that that seemed like a good deal to me, but of course everything depends on the nature of the crime.

(Doubt they’ll give someone charged with murder that kind of deal.)

Pick-up card for Turning Point that was available at the probation office across the street from Oxford Crown Court.

Friday, Judge Ian Pringle, KC (King’s Counsel) sentenced Merlando S. to more than seven years in prison.

Merlando was charged with two counts of possession of a Class A drug with the intent to sell and a third serious charge for using a cell phone inside prison for “drug operations."

It’s against the law here to have a phone in prison, let alone use it for drug operations.

During the sentencing, where two people involved in this drug ring were also sentenced, the court mentioned that Merlando S. was “linked to an Oxford crime base.” 

Judge Pringle said that the drug operations coincided with “an alarming rise in overdoses in the Oxford area.” A court official tied to the prosecutor’s office said nitazene is stronger and, therefore, more deadly than fentanyl.

Merlando’s attorney said at 33, the defendant was facing a reckoning in his life and had remorse for his actions. 

He was committed to helping support an “infant” child who we later learned was four years old. He’d been with his “partner” for eight years, the attorney said.

He also told the judge that there’s been a change in Merlando’s attitude and his background or upbringing was “not normal.”

A bit later on, we also learned that Merlando S. was in a sexual relationship with Charlotte B., a co-defendant who held a “managerial role” in the drug operation.

The 46-year-old former “sex worker” was out on bail or probation when she caught yet another charge in November. 

She walked into co-defendant Stuart G’s home not knowing that the police were there. They had followed Stuart G. into an alleyway where he’d ridden his bicycle to sell drugs to someone. 

Stuart G. was a sad case having been introduced to drugs by an uncle, his attorney said. He got a two year suspended sentence because he had managed to kick heroin after attending Turning Point, a recovery service, and was working on removing crack cocaine from his life. He also benefited from an early admission of his complicity in the drug operation and he played a “lesser role.” I think we’d call him a drug runner in the U.S.

Because he'd injected drugs into his veins or from “shooting up” for so long, he developed a blood clot about a year ago and had to undergo surgery. He was so thin, walked with a limp, glasses askew on his face, and looked so worn out he could have passed for much older.

He will have to be drug tested every month and is under a curfew from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., the judge said.

Charlotte B. didn’t fare as well as Stuart. The judge pointed out that she committed her last offense while she was either out on bail or probation and then tried to blame it on a deceased man who died 54 days after the last offense.

She was caught with “20-odd wraps” of heroin, crack cocaine and dry morphine. At least I think that’s what I heard a couple of times, but I can’t find any reference to dry morphine so I will have to check Monday when I return for a trial.

She ended up getting sentenced to 68 months which works out to 5.6 years.

At one point, I heard someone refer to Merlando S. as being part of the “Prada line,” referring to his drugs sold. 

I looked it up and apparently in 2020 there was a gang in the UK who stamped their blocks of cocaine with Prada and Gucci.  Well, it is the rich man’s drug, as I refer to it in our theme music, The Probable Cause.

The three co defendants were placed in a glass enclosure called the box where they stand without handcuffs while the court proceeding is carried out. They all seemed to have a minder and at one point, they were all talking, particularly Charlotte B. who was trying to make the best of it. Stuart G. looked miserable and Merlando S., the would-be kingpin, was trying to look as blank as possible.

AN ASIDE

On to the court practice of wearing wigs. Each barrister, prosecutor and judge normally buys his or her own wig which costs around 300 to 400 pounds or “quid.”

A court wig just like they wear in an English court. This one can be purchased on Etsy!

The judges wear white robes, as far as I can tell, with different colored ties, like lavender and red.

The defense and prosecution wear black robes as does the court clerk.

While I was there Friday, the defense attorneys nearly always asked for more time to talk to their clients or review material used to defend their clients. A lot of rushing around.