'Panic' made dad deal drugs

A 'SUCCESSFUL' businessman is in jail after making an 'appalling' decision and turning to crime.

- ANDREW BARDSLEY

'Hard-working' dad Michael Gaskell ran his own firm as a plasterer. But as Covid hit in 2020 and work dried up, he began to 'panic' about how he would support his family, Minshull Street Crown Court was told.

Gaskell, 36, from Dukinfield, who has previous for dealing cocaine, turned back to his old ways and became involved in a huge drugs conspiracy.

The wider organised crime gang, which he was a part of, was responsible for flooding the streets with up to 50 kilos of cocaine worth up to £2m, the court heard. Gaskell was not said to be at the head of the gang, but was a mid-level criminal answering to the orders of its second-in-command.