The cocaine dealer was allegedly put to work in the ‘Scouse Nay’ drugs ring after being held responsible for the loss of £4,000 cash
Ryan Finlay(Image: Merseyside Police)
A drug dealer laughed and told his family “see yous this year” as he learned how long he will spend in prison. Ryan Finlay became involved in an operation which saw cocaine trafficked from Merseyside to Scotland only a day after he had walked free from court for an offence of dangerous driving.
He was allegedly put to work in the “Scouse Nay” county lines gang after being held responsible for the seizure of £4,000 in cash by the police. The graft phone used by the class A ring was later found in his girlfriend’s pocket when officers came knocking at his door.
Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday, Thursday, that Finlay was handed a 10-month imprisonment suspended for two years on August 30 2024 after admitting dangerous driving. This came only a day before the 29-year-old’s involvement in the drug plot was said to have commenced, as per charge sheets.
Christopher Taylor, prosecuting, described how an investigation into the “Scouse Nay” county line, a Merseyside-based operation which began peddling cocaine in the Inverness area around April 2023, subsequently led to officers executing a search warrant at his home on Parbrook Road in Huyton in October last year. The phone used to carry out sales of drugs to customers was located within Finlay’s girlfriend’s pocket during this raid.
It was later found that this device had frequently cell sited at his address. He was also said to have sent a parcel to the Scottish city from Page Moss Avenue Post Office on one occasion.
Finlay claims that he was tasked with manning the Scouse Nay graft phone after he was arrested north of the border in early 2023 in possession of £4,000 in cash which did not belong to him. He was then supposedly made responsible for this seizure, but was unable to pay the debt off.
The defendant also stated that he was driven to Inverness by an unknown male on one occasion in order to collect a quantity of cash. Finlay has a total of 17 previous convictions for 21 offences, including being locked up for three years for conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine at Preston Crown Court in 2016.
Christopher Stables, defending, told the court: “What is clear is that the line had been operating in many different phones before the involvement of this defendant. The defendant does, however, accept that he was operating the line, in the sense that he was physically in possession of the phone and would do so on a daily basis. The defendant has a number of health problem. As is frequently the case, he was himself a user of cocaine at the time.”
Finlay pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine. When asked whether he admitted breaching his suspended sentence order, he replied: “If you say so.”
Appearing in the dock wearing a turquoise Nike t-shirt, he was jailed for 45 months. Sentencing, Judge Simon Medland KC said: “There are periods of time when you are quite capable of leading a straight forward, sensible, law abiding life.
“The times when you are not able to do that are times when you are involved in drugs. The time will come, sooner or later, when you realise that drugs destroy lives.
“Your involvement in class A drugs is why you are where you are today and why you were sent down on the last occasion. You need to think about that. Inevitably, the sentences will get longer and longer.”
Finlay reacted to his sentence by putting his head in his hands before saying “thank you very much”, adding to his supporters in the public gallery: “See yous all this year. Love yas.”
He could then be heard loudly saying “ha ha” as he was led down to the cells. Addressing Mr Stables, Judge Medland said of this: “Human nature is what it is.”