Police find £7,500 cocaine hidden in three-year-old's NAPPY after father passed out in Liverpool chicken shop - then eye white power on child's plate
Steven Magee, 36, was discovered unconscious on the floor of Pepe's Piri Piri at Halewood Shopping Centre last summer in what was believed to be a 'medical episode'.
But when officers searched him, they uncovered 55g of cocaine with an 82% purity and £500 in cash – suggesting he had been dealing.
Then when police later attended Magee's home to notify next of kin, they made an even more disturbing discovery – nearly 20g of additional cocaine concealed inside a child's nappy and traces of white powder on a plate belonging to the toddler.
The drugs, with an estimated street value between £2,372 and £7,510, were seized from the Halewood property, along with mobile phones and tick lists consistent with drug dealing.
Liverpool Crown Court heard how Magee had spiralled into addiction and debt, spending £9,000 of redundancy money on cocaine during lockdown. He eventually turned to drug dealing to fund his habit.
His mother was described as being 'horrified' by his addiction and was 'in tears' in court as her son was jailed for 30 months.
She had attempted to conceal evidence from police during their visit and later paid off his drug debts using her own savings in a bid to help him recover.
During the hearing, Iain Criddle, prosecuting, said: 'PCs then visited his home address to inform his next of kin of the incident and spoke to his mum.
She was described as appearing worried and trying to conceal something, after which a further 19.3g of cocaine, valued at £772 to £1,930, was found hidden inside a nappy.'
He added that under interview, Magee said: 'his mother was not involved.'
Defending, Julian Nutter said Magee had been 'locked in a room' by his parents in an attempt to force him to go cold turkey.
He told the court: 'His parents are in court today, and they are very respectable people who have watched their son become an addict of cocaine. He managed to blow £9,000 of redundancy money in lockdown.
'At the time, his mother was horrified and did what any mother would do to try to help her son.
'After all of this happened and the dust had settled, his mother and father settled upon getting him off his addiction. Initially, he was shut in a room and had to come off it the hard way.
'This case is relatively old. What many individuals who are awaiting punishment do is nothing at all, putting it out of their minds and making no effort to improve themselves. He has applied a resolution to getting off the cocaine.
'His mother has dipped into her savings and paid off the debt that lies behind this. All of that is positive. One of the reasons that such positive action has been taken is that there is a young child, who is just over three years old.
'He has no previous convictions for drug trafficking offences. He is also epileptic. His epilepsy is made far worse by stress. He has been having an increasing number of fits with this hearing getting closer. He is not in a particularly good place.
'He has spent the past 11 months or so rehabilitating himself. It has been a wake up call. In my respectful submission, in the exceptional circumstances of this case, it is not too late and there is room here to take an exceptional course and suspend the sentence of imprisonment.'
Appearing in court wearing a white shirt and short brown hair, Magee admitted possession of cocaine with intent to supply.
Recorder Richard Pratt KC acknowledged Magee's previous efforts to overcome his addiction, noting: 'Although you have previous convictions involving the possession of drugs, you have no convictions for drug trafficking.
'You are the son of excellent parents who have done everything they can to cope with your deteriorating drug addiction.
'I note that you are a carer to a three-year-old child. It is to your credit that you have kept out of trouble since June 2024 and you have done much to rid yourself of your terrible addiction to cocaine.
'You, more than anybody else in this courtroom, well know the perils of cocaine addiction. That is why the court must punish those involved in the supply of it.'
As Magee was led away to begin his 30-month sentence, his mother was seen dabbing her eyes with a tissue and clinging to her partner in the public gallery.
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