A drug dealer’s cache of firearms was discovered after his girlfriend called the police. Ronnie Beardmore stashed the sawn-off shotgun and converted blank-firing pistol in the flat of a friend who was away while apparently fighting in the conflict in Ukraine.
The tip-off also led to tens of thousands of pounds of heroin, cocaine, cannabis and magic mushrooms being found hidden in an Under Armour rucksack, Aldi and Footasylum bags and Kinder eggs. His involvement in crime allowed him to enjoy a lavish lifestyle, including a £12,000 couple’s holiday to Thailand, a Rolex watch and up to £50,000 cash in his pocket at any one time.
But his now ex-partner reported to the police that he had “forced her to drive him around” as he dealt drugs, as well as in assisting with adulterating and packaging heroin and cocaine. She also alleged the 22-year-old, of New Brighton in Wirral, Merseyside had used her flat in order to house his stock.
Neil Bisarya, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court these drugs were later transferred to another address, apparently belonging to an “associate” of Beardmore’s who had “left the jurisdiction to fight in Ukraine”, which was “used as a stash house for crack cocaine, heroin and firearms”. This led to a search of both apartments on February 2 this year.
Officers found a self-loading, Turkish manufactured Ekol Alper converted blank-firing pistol inside a holdall in a storage cupboard, alongside two rounds of ammunition. Also seized was a Remington Model smooth-bored pump action sawn-off shotgun, which was recovered in a “fair condition” with a number of cartridges.
Drugs and paraphernalia including a mixing bowl, a set of scales and sandwich bags was meanwhile discovered inside an Under Armour bag, with a total of 430g of cocaine, 48.1g of heroin, 647g of cannabis and 426g of cannabis resin seized from both properties. This included a stash of “import quality” cocaine in a Footasylum bag on the kitchen table, worth between £17,000 and £30,000 alone and considered a “premium product”.
An Aldi carrier bag was also found to contain a crop of magic mushrooms, although Beardmore was ultimately not charged in relation to these. Further wraps of cocaine were found located in Kinder Surprise eggs at his girlfriend’s home, as was a Rolex watch, cannabis valued in the region of £9,000, a knuckle duster and an extendable baton.
Beardmore’s then partner went on to disclose that his drug money had paid for the couple’s £12,000 holiday to Thailand and that he had used her bank account in order to conduct transactions in relation to his illicit business, as well as having seen him in possession of up to £50,000 in cash.
Beardmore was previously handed a two-year imprisonment suspended for two years in April 2024 for possession of heroin and crack cocaine.
It came after plain clothes police spotted him apparently selling to users in an alleyway in Birkenhead, after which he was arrested with a “large amount” of drugs.
Beardmore pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon, possession of prohibited ammunition and possession of heroin, cocaine, cannabis resin and cannabis with intent to supply.
Appearing via video link, he was seen biting his nails and smiling after being jailed for 11 years and eight months.
Judge Brian Cummings said: “On the evidence I have heard, I am sure that this was, to use her words, your graft, and was if not a continuation then certainly a revival of your earlier drug dealing. She herself accepted that she assisted you with your graft. I do not sentence you on the basis that you in any way coerced her. But it was your graft. It was your operation.”
He added: “I am also sure that you were not a mere custodian, either of the drugs or the firearms. They were yours, either yours alone or yours in association with others. You were not some menial individual being used by other people. You were fully involved and fully in control of your own activities in relation to these offences.
“I deal with cases where people are used by others to store firearms. Such people, in my experience, do not have the luxury of being able to pay for £12,000 holidays to Thailand. Yours is not one of those cases.
“Drug trafficking and firearms offences, even more so in combination, are extremely serious offences. These courts and this city are all too familiar with the very serious consequences for society of this type of offending.”