A dealer who sold drugs to children and started a sexual online chat with a girl has been jailed.

Justin Cooper, 34, pretended to be 16 years old when talking to the 14-year-old girl online.

The girl told her older sister she was falling in love with him and when she was located at Cooper’s house having gone missing, he was served with a child abduction notice.

When the girl’s sister became suspicious, she posed as a 15-year-old on social media and started talking to Cooper herself.

He invited her for drinks and sent her pictures of sex toys.

He also told her: “I’m a weed dealer, you wouldn’t believe the offers I get.”

Cooper, of Clayton Street, Blackburn, appeared for sentence at Burnley Crown Court alongside three co-defendants charged over drug conspiracy and supply.

The conspiracy to supply cannabis charge related also to David Watson, 58, of Mallard Place, Oswaldtwistle, who acted as a runner for Cooper.

Peter Wilson, prosecuting, said police attended Cooper’s address on August 21 last year due to concerns about him dealing to children.

A 14-year-old boy was found at the house under the influence of cannabis.

Police visited again on October 9 and Cooper was rearrested. During a search, 44.5g of cannabis was recovered with a street value of £510, along with £15,000 snap bags, phones, scales, and a notebook of contacts.

Analysis of the phones showed that flare messages would be sent out on Snapchat showing cannabis for sale, along with pictures, and Watson would then go on to supply the drugs.

On October 10, police attended the address of Paul Sayers, 55, of Dill Hall Lane, Church, and found a cannabis farm in the attic.

Almost 2kg of cannabis plants were recovered from the property. Analysis of Paul Sayers’ phone also found evidence of messages to his brother, Dale Sayers, 62, of Oswald Street, Accrington, who supplied the drugs on a small scale.

Roger Brown, mitigating for Cooper, laid out a number of courses he had completed in prison during his time on remand, which he said “show a determination to repair the damage he has done in the past.”

He also said Cooper had a “fairly appalling upbringing” and that he has a “low likelihood of reoffending.”

Rachel Woods, for Watson, said her client was performing a limited function under direction and had no influence on anybody above him in the chain.

Anna Chestnutt, for Dale Sayers, said her client had used cannabis medicinally for genuine purposes but has desisted in using it “due to learning his lesson.”

She said Sayers “wishes to return to a law-abiding and hard-working life.”

Eleanor Brambell, for Paul Sayers, said he immediately admitted to having the farm and that he was genuinely remorseful.

Recorder Michelle Brown, sentencing, said in respect of Cooper that he had an expectation of “significant financial advantage” and that he supplied to children who were “particularly vulnerable.”

He was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison, and will be subject to sex offender notification requirements and a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.

Addressing Cooper, the judge said the custody threshold was crossed but his role was a lesser one.

His 12-month sentence was suspended for 18 months, and he must complete 15 rehabilitation activity days.

Recorder Brown said the custody threshold was not crossed in respect of Paul Sayers and Dale Sayers.

Paul Sayers was given an 18-month community order with 15 rehabilitation days, and Dale Sayers was given a 12-month community order with 15 rehabilitation days.

Lancashire Telegraph

Paul Martin, of Suffolk Road, Croydon, has admitted having a stun gun but denied the other two charges against him.

A Covid denier amassed an armoury of blades, crossbows and arrows as he called for a violent uprising during the pandemic, a court has heard.

Paul Martin, 60, is on trial at the Old Bailey charged with encouraging terrorism on a Telegram group entitled The Resistance UK and having weapons “for the purposes of terrorism”.

In 16,000 posts, Martin allegedly called for the use of explosives, “serious violence” and “disruption” to influence the UK government or intimidate the public between December 2020 and September 2021.

Opening his trial on Monday, prosecutor Julia Faure Walker said: “He was vehemently against the measures brought in by the then-government in response to the pandemic, including the lockdown and vaccine rollout.

“He believed the pandemic was fake and the vaccine was dangerous and designed to be so and the people needed to ‘wake up’ to what he believed.

“It was this ideological cause that drove the messages encouraging violence and other action.”

Ms Faure Walker said that rather than restricting himself to lawful protest, the defendant had repeatedly referred to “serious violence, criminal damage and disruption of electrical communication systems”.

In the Telegram messages, Martin also referred to his weapons and encouraged others to acquire and use them in attacks, the jury was told.

Two crossbows, arrows and blades were found when police visited his home in September 2021, the court heard.

The defendant allegedly had joined Telegram group The Resistance UK in December 2020 and his posts made up some 4% of messages to the 8,000 members, the court heard.

Ms Faure Walker said: “It follows, the posts he was making reached a very large audience.”

As the name suggested, at least some of the members resisted the lockdown and other measures imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic, jurors were told.

Given its size, Ms Faure Walker said there was no way Martin could have known all the group members, or how susceptible they might be to his influence.

Martin, of Suffolk Road, Croydon, has admitted having a stun gun but denied the other two charges against him.

The Old Bailey trial continues.

Evening Standard

A man with a ‘strong interest in Hitler and the Nazis’ used a 3D printer to make his own gun. Igor Ciesielski – who was described ‘intelligent’ – had not finished making the firearm when police searched his Bentilee home.

But Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard the 21-year-old – who spent a lot of time in his bedroom – had components to make ammunition which could have been used in the pistol.

And officers found disturbing comments the defendant made about Jews and evidence of his strong interest in the Nazis. Now Ciesielski has been jailed for two years.

Prosecutor Laura Coton said police searched the defendant’s home in Beverley Drive, Bentilee, at 6.30pm on May 11.

Miss Coton said: “In his bedroom they found a 3D printer in the process of printing. He was printing parts to construct a self-loading hybrid gun. Most of the parts had been printed and some parts were unfinished.

“There was a lower receiver and an upper receiver. Both had been finished. He had all the metal fasteners and small springs that would be required.

“There does not appear to be any dispute that the defendant intended to and was capable of producing the firearm to completion had he not been interrupted.

“He bought bullet cases and there was a jar containing a propellant. There is no dispute as to what this defendant intended to do. There was an incomplete 3D pistol frame which appeared to be consistent with a specific type of pistol. But it could not be used in its current condition because it was not capable of being used. There were two Glock compatible magazines.”

Police found comments made by Ciesielski in a chat with a friend. They included, ‘I understand why Hitler was so p*ssed,’ and, ‘Bro, I want a Glock so bad it is unreal’.

There were also comments relating to hatred towards Muslims, his interests in the Nazis and Hitler and reference to school shootings.

Ciesielski, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm without a firearm certificate and possession of ammunition with intent to manufacture.

Nichola Cafferkey, mitigating, said the chat material was with a young Muslim friend of the defendant. She said one of the chats was in August 2024 and a second was in December and ‘there was nothing else’.

Miss Cafferkey said: “At the time he was a young man who was spending excessive amounts of time on social media and long periods of time alone in his bedroom.

“He has expressed an insight into the impact his actions are likely to have on the wider community surrounding him. It is plain he is an intelligent young man. He has been in this country since he was 18-months-old. He has spent his entire education in this country. Having left school with a number of qualifications he completed an engineering course. He is intellectual. On the other hand he is naive and emotionally immature.

“He is of previous good character. He has come to realise the stress and strain he has put other family members through his own actions and stupidity. He does express some remorse for his actions.

“He is a Polish national notwithstanding the fact he has lived here since two years of age. In the event of an immediate sentence in excess of 12 months he automatically falls likely to be deported by the Home Office.”

But Judge Graeme Smith said the level of risk and the seriousness of the offence outweighed other factors. Judge Smith said: “I have read references provided by your parents and a number of friends and neighbours who all speak of you being polite, kind, respectful and trustworthy. It is clear you are intelligent and resourceful. There is another aspect to your character which was clearly not known to your family and most of your friends.

“You said the messages were simply intended as jokes and were taken out of context. However disparaging comments about Jews are always going to be worrying in the context of someone who has an interest in Nazism. You are potentially on a path other young men have gone down.

“There is no suggestion by the prosecution that there was any intent or plan. This country has robust gun control legislation for a very good reason. Fortunately for society and for you, you were caught before you had finished manufacturing a gun or ammunition for it.

“I have to sentence you for the two offences you have pleaded guilty to, not to what might have happened, had you been discovered at a later stage. There is no evidence of any plan or specific intent in relation to the weapon or the ammunition.

“There were 250 barrel casings. I am satisfied there was a high risk of serious harm. You are liable to automatic deportation. There are exceptions to these provisions. One includes the possibility that deportation might be in breach of your convention rights.”

The judge ordered the forfeiture and deprivation of the firearm, ammunition and components.

The Sentinel