Southport plumber rioted, lost his customers, returned to crime and ended up back in jail

John O’Malley was caught selling drugs from his van by undercover police following his release from prison

A plumber turned to drug dealing when his “customer base evaporated” following his involvement in the Southport riots.

John O’Malley positioned himself “at the front of a baying mob” in the seaside town in the aftermath of the fatal stabbings of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar, but found himself behind bars within a matter of days.

Having found himself out of work upon his subsequent release from prison, he was then caught selling cocaine from his van by undercover police. He yesterday thanked a judge as he was locked up once again as a result of his return to crime.

Liverpool Crown Court heard on Monday afternoon that plain clothes police on duty in the Southport area spotted O’Malley involved in a suspected drugs transaction from his van on the afternoon of July 28 this year. Officers stopped the man who he was seen interacting with and found him in possession of a wrap of cocaine before similarly pulling over the defendant’s vehicle.

Christopher Hopkins, prosecuting, described how a further 18 packages of the class A drug, valued at between £700 and £1,300, were then recovered from O’Malley, along with £195 in cash and a Samsung mobile phone which was “ringing constantly”. The 45-year-old, of Cambridge Road in the town, made no comment to detectives when interviewed following his arrest.

O’Malley has a total of three previous convictions for three offences, including receiving 32 months for violent disorder in August 2024. The ECHO previously reported that this came days after he had involving himself in rioting on St Luke’s Road in Southport.

The same court heard on this occasion that O’Malley was “at the heart of the violence”, being caught on camera “at the front of what was essentially a baying mob” and standing next to a destroyed police vehicle while “missiles were raining down on officers”. The then Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC told him that he had “participated enthusiastically” during a “relentless attack” as he was jailed.

O’Malley was recalled to prison on licence until April next year following his latest arrest. Paul Lewis, defending, said on his behalf: “The defendant worked for years with his own plumbing business. He gets arrested for the violent disorder offences. Not surprisingly, his customer base evaporates, knowing that he had been convicted of that offence. He lost that business.

“He needed money to get his licences in order to go back to employment. He has long standing alcohol and drug problems. It was suggested to him that there was a way of obtaining short term cash so that he could earn an honest living. He does this for a short period of time and gets caught.

“If I were to simply say that he did this to get back to legitimate employment, that would be a poor submission. But that was his motivation. Underneath, what he wants to do is move on and work. He has no partner and no children. He lost his father recently. It may be that he has a lack of a wider support network.”

O’Malley admitted possession of cocaine with intent to supply. Appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse wearing a checked shirt and glasses, he replied “thank you for your time” after being jailed for three years and four months.

Sentencing, Judge Ian Unsworth KC said: “You, on licence, were seen dealing drugs. That turned out to be a relatively small amount of cocaine. Although you do have previous convictions, you do not have any convictions for any drug trafficking matters.

“However, your case is significantly aggravated by the fact that you were on licence at the time you were peddling class A drugs. Class A drugs wreck communities, individuals and the families of users. That you were doing this on licence is a significant aggravating feature. I accept that, no doubt now, in the cold light of day, you are remorseful for what you did.”

Liverpool Echo