A Douglas man linked to two of the island’s most notorious drug dealers has narrowly avoided a prison sentence.

Michael John Westhead, 43, ended up sleeping on a sofa at the home of Hayley Williams, dubbed ‘Hayley Escobar’, who was jailed for 15 years and six months earlier this year for her role in importing £100,000 worth of cocaine to the island.

Westhead was also friends with drug kingpin Jamie Smith, described as ‘probably the most prolific drug dealer the island has ever seen’.

As part of Operation Vineyard, police covertly recorded conversations in a hotel room from which Smith was orchestrating his criminal activities.

At the Court of General Gaol Delivery on Friday, prosecutor Roger Kane said one recording captured Smith speaking to Westhead, during which Westhead agreed to sell cocaine on Smith’s behalf.

Mr Kane said Westhead was sofa-surfing and staying at Williams’ home in Pulrose in November 2023.

Recordings from Smith’s room at the Comis Hotel on the outskirts of Douglas captured a number of conversations between the pair. However, it was on November 11, 2023, that Westhead agreed to supply cocaine on Smith’s behalf.

Westhead was arrested the following day. He gave a ‘no comment’ interview but provided a prepared statement in which he said he had been staying at Williams’ home after suffering a mental health breakdown. He denied selling drugs on her behalf and said he had no knowledge of drugs being kept at the property.

He also admitted knowing Smith but denied dealing drugs for him.

A basis of plea was accepted by the prosecution in which Westhead admitted offering to supply cocaine but said that, after receiving the drugs, he kept them himself and did not sell them on.

In mitigation, advocate Helen Lobb said her client suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after being the victim of a stabbing several years earlier and had struggled with drug addiction.

Miss Lobb said: ‘My client is impacted by trauma, mental health issues and drug abuse. He was exposed to offending behaviour rather than orchestrating and driving it.

‘He was homeless at the time and was placed in a difficult situation through necessity. He was very vulnerable.

‘But since this offence, he has made great strides in tackling his drug abuse. He has also secured accommodation which is providing him with stability, and he has distanced himself from that peer group.’

Miss Lobb argued that sending Westhead immediately to prison would undo the progress he had made and set back his rehabilitation.

Despite being sentenced under the Caldwell-Camp guidelines, introduced by the Appeal Division and setting out stricter sentencing for class A drug supply offences, Deemster Cook took the unusual step of not imposing an immediate custodial sentence.

Such offences would ordinarily attract a jail term of between five and 12 years.

Deemster Cook set a starting point of five years but took account of Westhead’s mental health difficulties and the fact he had stayed out of trouble since the offence more than two years ago. A further reduction was made for his early guilty plea.

The sentence was reduced to 24 months, allowing the deemster to suspend it for two years with a supervision order for the same period.

He told Westhead: ‘It is in society’s interest that you continue to be rehabilitated.’