Paul Kelly and his brother Keith operated a prolific heroin and cocaine supply business known as the 'Tommy Line'
Paul Kelly, of King Avenue in Bootle, aged 40
Paul Kelly, of King Avenue in Bootle, aged 40(Image: Merseyside Police)
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A heroin and cocaine dealer bit a police officer after being suspected of handing drugs to another man at an Everton game. Paul Kelly and his brother Keith Kelly operated a prolific supply business, known as the "Tommy Line", across the north west.
The five-time convicted drug dealer has now received sentences totalling more than 20 years behind bars as a result of his repeated involvement with class A trafficking. He was said to have returned to old ways in order to help his younger sibling clear his debts.
Liverpool Crown Court heard this week that police executed a search warrant at Paul Kelly's home on McDonald Road in Morecambe on the morning of March 3 this year, with his partner and two children being present at the time and brother Keith found in the back garden. Officers described Keith Kelly, of King Avenue in Bootle, as being "extremely nervous" and searched him, finding a "large quantity" of heroin and cocaine on him.
Zahra Baqri, prosecuting, said Paul Kelly, also previously of Bootle, told PCs that his younger sibling had been "staying with him on a temporary basis". But a search of the property then revealed a number of mobile phones, a quantity of cocaine and cannabis, a set of digital scales and a total of £3,110 in cash.
Examination of these devices revealed "frenetic drug dealing activity" over the previous three months as part of the "Tommy Line". This was said to have operated across the north west, with more than 1,200 messages having been sent and received as part of the heroin and cocaine supply business.
This included 254 texts exchanged on one day alone. Ms Baqri added: "The offenders, at times, co-located and moved together all over the north west area, including Wigan and Liverpool. It is the prosecution case that the two brothers operated the lines as a joint enterprise. They are both as culpable in this enterprise as each other."
Keith Kelly, of King Avenue in Bootle, aged 37
Keith Kelly, of King Avenue in Bootle, aged 37(Image: Merseyside Police)
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In total, police seized 7.36g of "import quality" cocaine, worth between £294 and £514, 7.42g of crack cocaine, valued at around £1,080, and 2.71g of heroin, said to be worth £300. Paul Kelly has a total of 26 previous convictions for 58 offences, including possession of cannabis with intent to supply in 2002.
The 40-year-old then received three years for possession of heroin and cocaine with intent to supply in 2009, 68 months for conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine in 2014 and six years for heroin and cocaine supply offences in 2019. His latest crimes also put him in breach of a two-year community order which he was handed for assaulting an emergency worker and a public order matter.
That incident unfolded when Kelly was seen by a police officer passing a bag of white powder to a man during Everton's 3-1 defeat to West Ham United at Goodison Park on March 2 2024. Having been detained, he went on to bite the PC to the hand before hurling a homophobic slur at him after being taken into custody.
His counsel Daniel Jones said on his behalf: "Your honour will have seen, in his pre-sentence report, mention of why the defendant got back involved in this offending. The bottom line was that, originally, it was to assist his brother with debts. He then realised that he also would make money, and he also was short of money. It is no excuse. That is why he did it again. He really did not originally intend to get back involved in the drugs trade, but he has done so.
"The man who appears in court does not appear to be the man that his friends and family know. He is in a position of looking after his grandmother. Your honour knows the part that alcohol has played in his family background. He has a number of children, with a new child who is not going to see their father for some time. This is a man who does care about his family.
"He is teaching younger inmates to read. He has a highly trusted position. He works in the staff canteen. He tells me that, ideally, on leaving prison, he will become a chef. That is his ideal. Through me, he offers an apology for being back in front of the court. He wanted your honour to know how sorry he is."
Keith Kelly meanwhile has five previous convictions for nine offences, including possession of cocaine in 2010 and drug driving in October 2019. Jason Smith, defending the 37-year-old, told the court: "We are dealing here with a man with a limited antecedent history and no convictions involving the supply of controlled drugs, and a man who has never been subject to a sentence of imprisonment.
"There is a degree of remorse on his part. He is an alcoholic. He has had alcohol and drug problems for many years. The report indicates 17 years of alcohol abuse. That leaves defendants vulnerable.
"It leads the defendant into the dealing of drugs. That is what he became involved in. It was not previously in his nature. He accepts that what he has done is wrong."
Paul Kelly admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a grey Under Armour t-shirt, he was jailed for 80 months on Monday.
Paul Kelly, of King Avenue in Bootle, aged 40
Paul Kelly, of King Avenue in Bootle, aged 40(Image: Merseyside Police)
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Keith Kelly pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine and possession of heroin and cocaine with intent to supply. Appearing in the dock wearing a grey Montirex tracksuit, he was handed three years and four months.
Family members in the public gallery then reached over a glass pane in order to hug and shake hands with him, with one man also seen tussling his hair, before he wheeled a suitcase down to the cells. Sentencing, Judge Ian Harris said: "You are both to be sentenced for serious class A drug supply offences.
"This is a so-called county lines case, in that you both managed telephone lines. You each travelled in the north west to supply your customers. The prosecution described your activities, on occasion, as frenetic. Evidence indicates over 1,200 messages were sent or received in connection with the ongoing business of class A drug supply.
"The distribution of class A drugs is a scourge on our society. Individuals, families and communities are adversely affected by drug use and abuse. As well as societal and individual problems, the use of class A drugs leads to violence being committed, often lethal violence when issues arise between rival drug dealers."
Judge Harris told Paul Kelly: "Your record aggravates your position. This, of course, is all self inflicted because of your determination to deal drugs and your ongoing activities. This is no reason to deal class A drugs."
Turning to Keith Kelly, the judge added: "You were an alcoholic. It is your debts, you say, that involved you in drug dealing. Your reasons, that is the need for money, do not excuse your criminality, which you and your brother entered into with enthusiasm and vigour.
"Your criminal record is different to your brother's. You have never been to prison. You have no drug supply convictions. You told a probation officer that you became involved in drug dealing because of debts, although you could not tell her the amount you owed.
"You have a long history of alcohol misuse. There are concerns about your mental health and alcohol dependency. You also have suffered the loss of family members. They are, of course, tragic matters, but do not provide any excuse for your involvement in serious class A supply, which you claim was in order to wipe out a debt.
"This was clearly an ongoing business that subsisted for three months. Both of you were trusted by those above you, who supplied you with the drugs and paraphernalia which enabled this operation to become successful."