Magistrate with cocaine and heroin addiction was also drugs gang member

A magistrate with a cocaine and heroin addiction has been found to also be a drug gang member.

Purshotam Dhillon, 59, served as a magistrate on criminal cases while secretly addicted to cocaine and heroin and allegedly played a key role in a major drugs operation, a court has heard.

Dhillon held the position of Justice of the Peace with the power to jail and fine defendants, whilst prosecutors allege he was simultaneously involved in a criminal network known as the Hadi line.

The drugs operation was masterminded by convicted dealer Harry Singh, who was jailed in 2018 for drugs offences and is said to have resumed control of the network following his release from prison in 2024.

Prosecutors told Croydon Crown Court that Dhillon was among those who aided Singh's return to the top of the criminal hierarchy.

He utilised his position as a magistrate allowing him to offer an "air of respectability" and avoid attracting suspicion from police.

Opening the case, 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.

“That such a network existed and that heroin and cocaine was supplied by it is not in issue."

Speaking to jurors, he said the central question was whether Dhillon and his co-defendant knew they were playing a role in the supply of those drugs.

He said: "The prosecution case is that they did."

The court heard that Dhillon allowed Singh to park his van at his property in Hounslow, west London, which the drugs kingpin used to supply customers while posing as an Amazon delivery driver.

Following Dhillon's arrest last summer, police searching his home found several mobile phones, a significant quantity of drugs, scales and a so-called tick-list used to identify customers and their orders.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

• Police find 'no evidence' of alleged rape in Epsom or 'involvement of asylum seekers'
• Father of man killed on Primrose Hill says he was 'proud' to live in diverse London
• Eco-activist who 'freed lobster from restaurant by throwing it into the sea' actually KILLED animal

Officers also found nearly £4,000 in cash in his bedroom, along with a Government identity card confirming his status as a serving magistrate.

Mr Bowyer told the jury: "Perhaps one of the last people who police would go to search is somebody who is a serving magistrate.

“It seems Mr Dhillon was well alive to that - he was giving an air of respectability."

Dhillon denied being part of the network, but admitted to being addicted to heroin and cocaine, saying the drugs paraphernalia found at his address related to his own personal consumption.

He said the cash found in his bedroom had nothing to do with drugs, claiming family members had reimbursed him for purchasing flights to India on their behalf.

The court also heard that Dhillon had made several payments to Singh's girlfriend while the drug dealer was in prison, before making a further deposit of £1,350 into Singh's personal bank account shortly after his release.

Dhillon later told police the payments were made to settle a drug debt he had run up with Singh.

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

Dhillon also told police that whilst his drug addiction did not affect his role as a magistrate, he "could see now how his relationship and drug use affected him personally."

His co-defendant, Leandrea Lynch, 48, of Hillingdon in west London, is alleged to have been at least a runner in the operation and is said to be Singh's former partner.

Lynch denied being involved in the supply of drugs, telling police that the small quantity of drugs found at her address was for her own personal use only.

Both Dhillon and Lynch each deny two charges of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs.

Dhillon also faces a separate charge of possessing criminal property in relation to the cash found at his home, which he also denies.

The trial is being heard before High Court judge the Hon Mr Justice John Cavanagh and is expected to last up to four weeks.