A Winsford drug dealer has avoided immediate custody after police used CCTV footage to link him to an anonymous mobile phone being used to supply cocaine.
James Cross, 39, of Lyndale Court, Winsford, was sentenced at Chester Crown Court on Tuesday, 18 August, after previously admitting being concerned in the supply of cocaine and possession with intent to supply cocaine.
He was handed a 32-month prison sentence, suspended for 24 months.
The investigation began in July 2025 when officers became aware of a pay-as-you-go mobile phone number being used to supply Class A drugs in Winsford.
The number was not registered to an individual, but detectives established that a top-up voucher for the phone had been bought from a shop in Weaver Street on 20 August 2025.
CCTV linked Cross to drugs phone
CCTV obtained from the shop showed the person purchasing the voucher had travelled there in an Audi A3 registered to Cross.
Further examination of messages on the phone revealed Cross was regularly arranging to buy and sell cocaine, police said.
The investigation showed him travelling to locations including Liverpool, Trafford, Crewe and Tarvin as part of his drug-dealing activity.
On 15 October, officers from Northwich Proactive Policing Unit spotted Cross’s Audi while travelling in an unmarked police vehicle on Wharton Road.
They followed the vehicle into Lyndale Court, where Cross was arrested for drug offences after getting out of the passenger side.
Cocaine and cash seized
During his arrest, Cross attempted to pass two mobile phones to other people inside the vehicle, but officers intervened and seized the devices along with £600 in cash.
Police subsequently searched his home and recovered approximately £1,770 worth of cocaine.
Cross answered “no comment” to questions when interviewed and was initially released on bail before later being charged.
Police Constable Dean Butterworth, of Northwich Proactive Policing Unit, said:
“Drugs have a hugely detrimental impact on our communities and we are committed to doing all we can to ensure those responsible are put before the courts.
“In this case, as soon as we received the intelligence that the mobile phone was being used to supply illegal drugs, we were quickly able to identify Cross as the owner through the CCTV footage, leading to his arrest.”
He said investigators subsequently gathered a “catalogue of evidence” linking Cross to cocaine supply in the Winsford area.
Cross’s 32-month sentence was suspended for two years, meaning he will not immediately serve the prison term provided he complies with the conditions of the suspended sentence.
