Drug dealer threatened to shoot his own driver's kids

HE ALSO HELD A KNIFE TO HIS NEIGHBOUR'S THROAT

- By ESTHER HALLIGAN Reporter [e-mail]

A MIDDLESBROUGH drug dealer kidnapped his own driver and threatened to shoot the man’s children if he did not hand over hundreds of pounds.

Dale Hamilton also told an ex-police officer he would be “folded in half” if he didn’t pay him £1,400.

The “vulnerable” officer was a recovering drug addict, and was so frightened he had to leave the area and enter a safe house.

Hamilton's cruel tactics saw him post cocaine through the former officer's letterbox, so he would relapse and order more. The ex-cop had already lost his job and home, and moved into a housing association property next door to Hamilton, when he was in recovery.

Both the former police officer and Hamilton’s driver were terrified for their lives, and eventually contacted the police.

Hamilton, 29, appeared at Teesside Crown Court to be sentenced on Monday.

Hamilton was caught operating a drugs business after police put in a request for his mobile phone data to his network provider.

The police had received intelligence about Hamilton’s dealing, and his phone company provided messages he had sent out giving customers his bank details for payment; and agreeing to drugs “on tick.”

Andrew Pickin, prosecuting, told the court that the dealer was operating a “ring and bring drugs line” and that he employed a driver to get him around.