A judge made the extraordinary step of urging people not to give money to rough sleepers - as he jailed a spice dealer caught with £800 loose change.

Judge Anthony Cross QC said kindhearted residents and visitors to the city should instead donate to charities and support groups.

Manchester Crown Court heard how Darren Power, 38, and his partner-in-crime Liam Nemeneh, 47, ran a Spice racket in the city centre.

When police arrested Nemeneh at his home in Beswick, they found £800 in loose change, which the judge said was ‘money donated by the public to those begging on the streets of this city’.

Nemeneh was jailed last year, while Power was dealt with this week. Sending Power down for three years, Judge Cross said: “That money comes from the pockets of visitors and residents of this city who give their money in the mistaken belief that it will be used to provide accommodation or food for those receiving it,”

“In some cases of course, it will.

“But giving money in that way is not the way to help rough sleepers.

“Money given that way finds its way into the hands of drug dealers.

“It is used to fund their lifestyles, to buy more drugs and thus it leads to more addiction and ultimately more homelessness.”

The operation in Beswick was so prolific Nemeneh’s neighbourhood was dubbed ‘Spiceworld’.

Residents compared the zombie-like states users of the drug were in to scenes from TV show The Walking Dead.

One resident even put up a notice at their front door which read: “Sugar only. Do not knock on my door. No spice. Wrong house.”

The court heard that police also found a ‘business plan’ at Nemeneh’s address, telling how they paid wages and hoped to make profits.

The document also revealed that they employed ‘runners’, who they paid 50p for every bag of Spice they took from the address to the city centre.

(Image: Facebook)

Texts between the two recorded them discussing their ‘business’.

“What time are you starting work?,” Nemeneh texted Power.

“Can you get the weekend work early so it’s all sorted?” another text read.

Police arrested Nemeneh after receiving a tip-off and recovered drugs paraphernalia from the address. But even after Nemeneh was arrested Power continued with the operation.

(Image: Facebook)

Power was arrested later, and officers found a blender in his address which contained Spice.

On Tuesday, Power, of Edgware Road, Newton Heath, was jailed for three years after pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply of Spice, and possession of heroin.

Nemeneh, of Orme Close, Beswick, was previously jailed for one year and nine months after pleading guilty to possession with the intent to supply Spice.

After jailing Power, Judge Cross said that people who want to help the homeless should donate to the Big Change Manchester campaign.

The judge added: “It’s of no help to simply put pound coins into those half ripped cups at the feet of those who seek such assistance in that way.”

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