A young man shouted “love you loads, see you later” to several family members as he was jailed for pulling out a loaded gun and threatening a police officer.
Joe Cook, 23, was on bail for drug offences when he fled from the undercover officer, Constable Lee, when cops approached him and his associates after they attracted attention by riding a suspected stolen scrambler bike.
The thug, who prior to this fatally stabbed a drug customer when he was just 16, lead the officer on a pursuit “over a fence, across a muddy field, through a hedge and up a road into a residential area” in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside. He went onto threaten her with the gun.
But Cook to serve eight years for the firearms offences and a further five years and eight months for possessing cocaine and heroin with intent to supply. Judge Denis Watson KC addressed Cook, who wore a grey prison-issue tracksuit and had grown his dark hair longer since his mugshot was taken, saying: “One only has to look at the steps you had taken issuing an initial threat before pulling out the loaded handgun so you could get away.”
Although the judge accepted that it was not a premeditated act, but rather a desperate one, he noted that Cook’s decision to carry the gun in the first place, given his prior manslaughter conviction, was a significant aggravating factor. Additionally, the judge acknowledged the “severe psychological impact” this incident has continued to have on the police officer.
The court heard that while he was being pursued by the officer he repeatedly threatened to “chin her” as she gained ground towards him. The court heard he threatened the officer on three occasions but she was not deterred.
However, as she got closer to Cook he turned around and pointed a loaded handgun at her. The court heard the brave officer was “utterly terrified” but she continued towards Cook before wrestling him to the crowd. More officers arrived at the scene shortly after and the defendant was overpowered and arrested, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Summing up the distressing impact on PC Lee, Mr Birrell informed the court that the officer has been undergoing counselling and took time off work due to post-traumatic stress disorder after the ordeal. He highlighted that she doesn’t even feel safe at home anymore, and her ability to perform her police duties has suffered due to concerns for her own safety.
She has found the counselling ineffective and is now looking into cognitive behavioural therapy to help overcome the trauma. Mr Birrell didn’t hold back as he stated: “The incident has changed her life in ways she couldn’t have imagined.”
The courtroom also learned that Cook was already on bail for other offences at the time of the firearms episode. On July 29, 2023, Cook was stopped while riding an e-bike in Newton-le-Willows at about 11.20am, leading to his arrest. A subsequent search uncovered 542 wraps of cocaine, 88 wraps of heroin, equating to about 61 grams of cocaine and 15 of heroin.
Additionally, officers seized 12 grams of cannabis resin and £90 from him. Searches at Cook’s family residence in Sandhills led to the recovery of £850 in cash and a set of scales.
An expert deduced that “the drugs were packaged for street deals and would have been worth around £6,000”, painting Cook as involved in significant street-level drug dealing, Mr Birrell concluded.
Presiding Judge Denis Watson KC lashed out at the gravity of the situation, declaring: “It is an awful lot of drugs, the whole county lines extension of the case is clear. I have yet to come across a dealer who has 630 wraps. It has the feel, when he comes from Liverpool, that he is delivering to the street peddlers. He is at a higher level than the street dealer – he is supplying. That is the picture I have.”
The court was informed that Cook has six convictions for 14 offences, including a manslaughter conviction from 2017 acquired at just 16, where the victim, a drug user Cook had been supplying, was killed with a knife. For this, Cook received a four-year detention and training order.
By the time he was 18, he was back in the dock in 2020, this time earning a sentence of 44 months in a young offenders’ institution for further drug offences. In relation to his most recent run-ins with the law, Cook faced charges of possession of a firearm with intent to resist arrest, possession of a prohibited firearm, possession of ammunition without a certificate, and possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
He was also slapped with charges for possession with intent to supply cocaine and heroin. The court was told that the offence of possession of a firearm with intent to resist arrest would be treated as the main charge as he had brandished the weapon at the officer to “maximise fear and distress”.
It was also heard that there were aggravating factors, such as being on bail at the time and trying to ditch the gun at the scene. In mitigation, Peter Killen, defending, said his client had “panicked as he attempted to flee” and had admitted guilt early on regarding the drugs charges in the lower courts.
He explained: “There are many roles played in drug dealing, there are other roles below those in charge that are active in going from one place to another.”
Killen added that his client was “not a leading mind” or else he wouldn’t be the one making the trip. Mr Killen informed the court: “This is going to be a substantial sentence and will include a substantial custodial sentence, greater than he has ever faced before. The defendant has tried to make use of the time he has spent in custody, although there is not a lot of opportunity available while on remand.”
“The defendant has reflected on his life, he has younger siblings who he will be apart from for a long time. He said ‘the only thing I would like to tell them is to not do what I have done’. He regrets going what he has done and wants to deter people from the same path. The defendant is perhaps learning to reflect on things that are more obvious to the rest of us.”
During sentencing, Judge Watson told the defendant that given the value and amount of drugs he had in his possession during his arrest in July last year, his involvement was “at a higher level than a street dealer”. Regarding the firearms indictment, the judge stated that Cook’s decision to pull out the gun was “done to maximise fear…so you could get away”.
