The “law abiding citizen” turned to dealing cocaine in order to feed his gambling addiction
19:10, 09 Mar 2026
Stephen Miller, of Dalegarth Avenue in West Derby, aged 35(Image: Merseyside Police)
A dad-of-two was caught with nearly £3,000 of cocaine in his underpants by undercover police. Stephen Miller was said to have become embroiled within the supply of drugs in order to feed his gambling addiction.
This led to the “law abiding citizen” being caught red handed by officers in the process of dealing from his car, having “got himself messed up with the realms of bad society”. His supporters were left in tears and crying “I love you” as he was locked up today.
Liverpool Crown Court heard this afternoon, Monday, that officers in an unmarked police car noticed Miller’s vehicle “loitering” and “picking up and dropping off members of the public” on February 28 last year. The 35-year-old, of Dalegarth Avenue in West Derby, was stopped as a result, with several mobile phones, an empty Kinder egg and £315 being discovered during a search.
Zara Kayani, prosecuting, described how Miller was later found with a sandwich bag containing 44 wraps of cocaine in his underwear, having been taken into custody. These drugs were of 65 to 82% purity and said to be worth between £1,152 and £2,880.
The phones meanwhile showed messages “indicative of onward supply” dating back around a month previously, with a further £420 and an iPhone being recovered during a search of his home. He has one previous conviction for four unrelated offences from 2014.
Matthew O’Neill, defending, told the court: “He is the primary carer of the children, one of whom has additional needs. There are convictions on his record, albeit from some time ago. Since that time, he has worked hard in various lines of work. He has built a family and, regrettably, he has found himself in this line of criminality through a gambling addiction.
“He found himself in debt and, like any other addiction, he then turned to criminality to fund that particular addiction. But this offence now dates back just over 12 months. Since then, he has continued to work hard for his family. He is not trying to put blame on others for getting himself involved in criminality.
“His partner works full time. She would have to alter her arrangements, should the defendant face an immediate sentence. If he were to do so, he only has himself to blame, but he accepts that. He completely accepts that this way of criminality is no good.
“Hopefully, this will be the last time that he troubles these courts. This is a man who, up until this point, has been a hard working, law abiding citizen of society who, unfortunately, got himself messed up with the realms of the bad society. But he has learned his lesson.”
Miller admitted possession of cocaine with intent to supply. Appearing suited in the dock, he was jailed for three years and was told “I love you” by a woman in the public gallery who burst into tears as he was led to the cells.
Sentencing, Recorder Nicholas Flanagan said: “In terms of your mitigation, it is strong. You are settled with your partner and two children, one of whom, I accept, has additional needs. You have difficulties in relation to gambling and suffered a serious injury not long ago.
“You had an awareness of the scale of this drug dealing operation. You were plainly undertaking this activity in expectation of financial gain. This was not just the start of this enterprise. The distribution of illegal drugs blights lives. You must have realised when you were committing this offence the problems that your incarceration would cause.”