Jailed Carlisle dad goes berserk in court

By Staff Reporter

Last updated 11:11, Saturday, 30 August 2008

A heroin addict went mad when magistrates jailed him because he said his long-term girlfriend and children would leave him if he was sent to prison again.

Craig Dalzell: Screamed ‘think of the kids’ as he was led away by guards

Dad-of-three Craig Dalzell, 39, of Hillary Grove, Harraby, Carlisle, was jailed for three months after police stopped his bicycle on Cecil Street and found three £10 wraps of the Class A drug.

Dalzell, who has been a heroin addict for 20 years, was caught with heroin in his jacket and two wraps in his buttocks on July 29.

He committed the offences while on licence after being jailed for four years in 2006 for conspiring to supply heroin.

As magistrates came into the court to read out his sentence, Dalzell went mad when he saw security men approaching him.

He refused to listen to the sentence and was led away by security guards shouting: “Think of the kids. I can’t believe you’re sending me down for this, for a £10 wrap.”

Claire Kirkpatrick, defending, said: “My client has been a drug addict for 20 years and has a long standing problem which has led to him committing a vast quantity of crime.

“The most serious was conspiracy to supply heroin. This was a wide scale drugs operation led by Brian [Bimbo] O’Neil.”

Ring leader O’Neil, one of Cumbria’s most notorious criminals, was jailed for 12 and a half years in 2006 for conspiring to supply heroin.

He got 10 years for each of nine counts of conspiring to supply heroin, to be served concurrently, two and a half years from previous sentence to serve. He was the leader of a 14-strong gang who brought misery to Carlisle.

Mrs Kirkpatrick said: “Mr Dalzell was a street dealer and would go out and sell and get a wrap free for himself. This is the first time my client has been back in court for a while. He’s been offence free for about eight or nine months.

“He received no help inside for his addiction and now he is on a methadone programme. “On the day he was caught he’d been sick and thought the methadone wouldn’t work so he decided to buy some heroin until he could get his methadone the following day.“He knew what he was doing was wrong.

“He has a long standing partner and three children, who he separated from after his last time in custody.

“She isn’t willing to put up with his behaviour if he’s jailed again.”