Former electrician hooked on heroin stung in police operation after dealing drugs in Wakefield Cemetery

Dad-of-two Matthew Mole delivered crack cocaine and heroin to the officer four times in the space of 10 days in the Agbrigg area of the city.

Prosecutor Joel Wootten told Leeds Crown Court that the officer was passed a phone number by a drug addict on November 30, 2022, but was initially told by the person who picked up the that they were “reloading” – meaning they had run out of drugs and were restocking.

But five days later the officer rang again and ordered £10 of heroin and £10 of crack. He was told to wait in an alleyway near to Wakefield Trinity’s stadium, and 50-year-old Mole arrived on his pushbike a short time later to hand over the drugs and take the money.

They carried out similar transactions the following day, then on December 14 and 15, meeting at various locations, including the cemetery in Agbrigg. The officer reported that other addicts were also at the locations waiting for Mole.

A phone call was later made to the officer’s phone from the dealer line in which the caller accused him of being an undercover officer, but it was not thought to have been Mole.

Mole, of Regent Street, Belle Vue, Wakefield, was eventually arrested in September of last year but made no comment during his interview.

He later admitted six counts of supplying class A drugs. He has no previous convictions. Mitigating, Matthew Stewart said between December 2022 and his arrest nine months later, there was “no suggestion he was involved any further” in the drugs trade.

Mole, who ran his own electrician business for 15 years, had fallen into addiction following the death of his brother, and had accrued a significant debt to dealers, so was put to work by them to pay it off.

Mr Stewart said: “He was exploited to a certain degree, and was instructed to deal. His parents paid off the remaining debt.” He said Mole was now on a methadone prescription.

The judge, Recorder Tahir Khan KC accepted the mitigation, and gave Mole a two-year jail sentence, suspended for two years, with 20 rehabilitation days.