The beak sold beak

A magistrate is facing years in jail after he allowed his home to be used as a drug dealing base for a gang boss who was in prison.

Purshotam Dhillon, 59, who was a Hounslow housing officer, allowed Harry Singh to keep cars at his home and sent him money for his own supply of drugs.

Singh ran a criminal network called HADI which supplied heroin and cocaine across London and directed the operation from prison after he was convicted of drug offences in 2018.

Dhillon and Singh’s ex-girlfriend Leandrea Lynch, 49, were identified as partners in the drug distribution business through phone contacts, Croydon crown court heard.

The two defendants denied but were convicted of being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine.

Lynch wiped tears away from her eyes as the jury delivered their verdict.

The pair will be sentenced on 25 June this year.

Dhillon was remanded in custody but Lynch was bailed ahead of her sentencing hearing.

Prosecutor Martyn Bowyer said: ‘This case, at its centre, involved the supply of Class A drugs in the form of cocaine and diamorphine, commonly known as heroin, by an organised criminal network.

‘We do not have ‘guilt by association in this country, and, as we shall see, the prosecution case is that both defendants were, in fact, part of the drugs operation.’

Police arrested Dhillon at his home on 1st July last year, and found cash and cocaine in the bedroom of his Hounslow home, as well as other drug paraphernalia and a ‘dealers list’ of drug clients.

They also discovered his ID card which showed he was a serving magistrate, and phone which related to his employment with Hounslow Council as a housing officer.

Mr Bowyer said: ‘That means that as of July last year he was a lay magistrate hearing criminal cases in the magistrate’s court.’

Dhillon is still listed as a housing and tenancy officer on the Labour-run council’s website.

A payment of £1,350 was sent from Dhillon to Singh on his release from prison in 2024, which Dhillon said was to cover his drug debts.

Mr Bowyer said: ‘Setting aside the notion of a serving lay magistrate sending money to a convicted drug dealer whilst still in custody, it begs the question of how he had run up a drugs debt to a man who was serving a prison sentence?’

Recounting Dhillon’s police interview, Mr Bowyer said: “Initially he said he was a user of crack cocaine and heroin.

‘The drugs and paraphernalia at his address related solely to his own drug habit.’

Dhillon later admitted Singh sold him drugs and that he knew he had been in prison

‘He admitted to being a drug addict but claimed whilst it did not affect his role as a magistrate, but he could see now how his relationship and drug use affected him personally,’ the prosecutor said.

He claimed the £3,920 in cash found at his address was from family members to repay him for flights to India.

‘The prosecution say that Leandrea Lynch and Purshotan Dhillon were also part of this network and concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine,’said Mr Bowyer.

‘Leandrea Lynch, the telephone evidence suggests, was at the very least a runner on behalf of Harry Singh.

‘Purshotan Dhillon allowed his premises to be used for the supply of drugs, if not by himself, certainly on behalf of Harry Singh.

‘You will take into account his position as a Justice of The Peace and that there may be a reluctance to admit he had flouted about every rule in the book regarding contact with convicted criminals.

‘This was far more than a simple dealer/user relationship.’

Dhillon, of Uxbridge, and Lynch, of Hillingdon denied but were convicted of being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine.