Jake Gerrard modelled himself on Willy Wonka but his chocolate bars had a special ingredient
A drug dealer who modelled himself on Willy Wonka while selling chocolate bars infused with magic mushrooms has been jailed. Jake Gerrard labelled himself “Psilly Wonka” as he advertised his wares for sale over Instagram.
But police were ultimately able to link the account to his mum’s house and discovered drugs potentially worth more than £100,000, also including a haul of cocaine and ecstasy. He candidly went on to confess that he “viewed drug supply as his job and how he earned money”.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that, in September last year, Merseyside Police became aware of an Instagram account under the name of “Mushy Madness” which had “the sole purpose to advertise and sell drugs, principally mushrooms but also DMT”. This saw “Psilly Wonka bars”, a reference to magic mushrooms also being known as psilocybin, offered for sale to its 240 followers.
Derek Jones, prosecuting, described how the page also contained pictures of chocolate bars with wrappers under this same branding, as well as a “stylised picture of a man, clearly based on the well known character”. The account was similarly used to advertise the hallucinogenic drug DMT for sale, although the IP address it had used was eventually traced back to Gerrard’s mum’s home on Coral Drive in Bootle.
This led to search warrants being executed at both this address and the 34-year-old’s flat on Linacre Road in Litherland on November 10. Drugs were seized from both properties, including 3.74kg of “dried mushroom material”, valued at £37,453, and 1.2kg of chocolate which had already been mixed with the class A substance.
Up to £1,890 of DMT, £1,330 of high purity cocaine, 6,616 tablets of 2CB, worth as much as £66,000, and 556 ecstasy tablets, which would potentially sell for £5,560, were also recovered. Psilly Wonka branded packaging was also discovered, as were common cutting agents, 50kg of chocolate, two catering sized herb and plant grinding machines and commercial melting and tempering equipment.
Further investigations revealed that Gerrard had placed orders for 150kg of chocolate within the space of one month, including £2,000 worth in one go. A total of £8,000 in cash was meanwhile found during the raids.
Gerrard later admitted possession of cocaine, MDMA, psilocybin, 2CB and DMT with intent to supply and being concerned in the supply of psilocybin and DMT. He was jailed for 10 years and eight months yesterday afternoon, Thursday.
Sentencing, Judge Harris said: “Drug abuse leads to large amounts of crime and violence, often lethal violence. Your actions over the years have added to this misery.
“There is an offender manger report in the papers. The report makes depressing reading. You see selling drugs as your job. You also dispute the amount of cash seized by the police, claiming that there was a lot more money seized from your premises. You have also stated that you want to remain in custody and serve your whole sentence. You have said that you will deliberately take action that will result in you being recalled.
“This was your business. You were a one-stop business, dedicated to drug supply. You are a committed and determined criminal. You prepared and made the product. I also take into account the large amount of chocolate that you had ordered in the preceding months. There is only one reason to order that amount of chocolate, which chimes with the business that you had.”
Following the sentencing Merseyside Police shared photographs of the Willy Wonka ‘chocolate bars’ which concealed the drugs.
You can read more on this story on the ECHO website.
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