Drug dealer who rapped about evading police jailed
GMPA drug dealer who dubbed himself "Little Billy" and rapped about making "stacks of cash" has been jailed after using children and vulnerable adults to do his "dirty work".
William Bates, from Astley in Greater Manchester, recorded lyrics on his mobile phone boasting of how he was "born to deal drugs" and evade police.
The 26-year-old was jailed for nine years and seven months at Bolton Crown Court on Friday after admitting possessing heroin and cocaine with intent to supply.
A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said that despite bragging about escaping officers with the lyric "only feds what I swerving", Bates was swiftly arrested after a short foot chase in October 2024.
The court heard how other lyrics, found in a note on one of his mobile phones, included "Little Billy don't be silly, trapping [drug-dealing] till I make a milly [£1m]."
Bates also wrote about going from having "holes in my shoes and coat" and not being able to "afford socks" to stacking "grands [£1,000] on grands".
His phones also contained messages boasting about his criminal activity and life as a "drug lord", the court was told.
Det Con Adam Kay said Bates had "used minors to do his dirty work", and threatened them with violence if they did not do what he asked.
The force said Bates began to be monitored by detectives in January 2023 as part of a wider "county lines" investigation.
The term refers to organised criminals trafficking drugs into different police force areas.
Detectives had been looking into a gang which had used children and vulnerable people to bag heroin and cocaine for supply into Wigan, Leigh and Burnley.
They discovered Bates was controlling the mobile phones used to direct the business.
'Show off'
A raid was carried out at an address in Astley linked to Bates on 12 October 2023 where drugs and cash were recovered, as well as a phone containing incriminating messages.
He was later charged with possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply and was released on bail pending a trial scheduled for April 2025.
However, on 4 October 2024 plain clothes officers watched Bates carry out a drug deal on Butts Lane in Leigh.
He was caught and arrested after being chased into a wood in Leigh and a hundred individual deal sized wraps of cocaine were found in his bag.
Police said drugs, three machetes and another phone containing the rap lyrics were later seized from Bates's home in Brook Drive.
Det Con Kay said: "His bravado and desire to show off ultimately helped secure this conviction, with his messages providing us with crucial insight into his criminal dealings."
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