Drug dealer, 32, who faked an illness and fled to the Caribbean on the day he was set to be jailed is finally locked up after seven years on the run

Daily Mail​

6 days ago

A drug dealer who 'attempted to run away from the justice system' by faking an illness and fleeing to the Caribbean has finally been jailed.
Nicholas Knowles, 32, was found unanimously guilty by a jury within mere hours when he stood a four-week trial at Bolton Crown Court in 2018.
Dubbed the head of the 'Tommy' crime group, he controlled its day-to-day running since its formation in 2013 during which time he 'exploited vulnerable people' and 'blighted the local community'.
But on the day of his sentencing, Knowles faked an illness to avoid going to court and subsequently fled the UK.
He was located and captured in the Caribbean and brought back home and was sentenced on May 16 2025 to 34 weeks to run consecutively with his 13 and a half year sentence that was passed in his absence.
Knowles had denied conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine. Following his escape, he was located on October 9 2024.
It comes after detectives had closed in on Knowles' organised crime group in May 2015. Four other gang members all pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs and were sentenced for their involvement.
After the arrest of one of the crime group's members, Cameron Johnson, for his possession of heroin and crack cocaine with the intent to supply, the group's activities were unearthed in the heart of Bury.
It emerged they had been selling Class A drugs across Greater Manchester 'relentlessly'.
A drug line called the 'Tommy' shot-line was established in Bury in 2014 which transitioned into a second Tommy line.
On January 15 2014, Knowles and Robinson were arrested after patrols stopped their vehicle, Robinson was found with a total of £420 which was hidden in his pockets and socks along with five mobile phones located on his person.
The SIM card found in one of the hidden phones matching the number of a second 'Tommy' line.
But it would take a series of arrests over the course of months for detectives to finally be able to bring a charge.
On January 23 2014, officers attended the address of a known drug user in the local area to execute a drugs warrant.
Robinson was also present at the address and, following a search, 32 wraps of cocaine and 60 wraps of heroin were located with a mobile phone and £230 cash which was found hidden in his socks.
A drug dealer tick list was also found in the battery compartment of the phone that was seized.
In February 2014, a car was stopped by police on Coronation Road in Radcliffe and Robinson was in the passenger seat.
He ran off and was chased by police and later arrested and found to be in possession of a tick list, cash and a phone.
After tracing his movements, a bag was located with smaller bags of cocaine and heroin. The vehicle was also searched, and a mobile phone was recovered, the SIM card came back as the same phone number as the second Tommy line.
Examinations of the second 'Tommy' shot-line found it was the same number found in the first vehicle stop where Knowles had been present. The phone connected Knowles to the group as it contained his topless selfies.
On April 11 2014, a BMW was stopped while it was driving on Turks Road in Radcliffe by officers as part of routine patrols in the area. The driver, believed to be a local drug user was seen with Robinson in the front and Knowles in the back of the car.
Detectives found the vehicle was funded by Knowles, and a local drug user was being used by the group as a delivery driver.
The 'Tommy' lines were in operation on a daily basis and the third 'Tommy' shot-line received one thousand text messages and phone calls – all selling and receiving their drugs to run their business.
In June 2014, officers arrested Knowles on suspicion of a domestic related offence, and the probation service were able to revoke his licence and recall him back to prison.
Upon his arrest, he concealed a small mobile phone and used this number from his cell in custody to continue running the drugs line until he was transferred to prison.
Messages uncovered from this phone were sent from Knowles to one of his family members to try and remove criminal funds because he knew officers would be looking into it.
He sent a string of text messages to the third 'Tommy' shot-line holder, Johnson who also was found guilty following trial. Knowles entrusted Johnson to run the business in his absence and used his cell mate's prison phone account to keep in touch with his second in command from Forest Bank jail.
In one text Johnson said: 'If you get nicked and you have got that phone you're f*****'
On August 8 2014, Knowles was released from prison, and the number he was using to control the drugs line from custody suddenly came back to life and resumed making calls and receiving messages with a new handset.
In September 2014, Knowles' underboss, Johnson was chased by police officers and was seen discarding a bag as they ran, from searching this bag, ninety seven street deals of heroin and twenty five street deals of crack cocaine were located.
He was arrested and found to possess a mobile phone – with the same number as the third Tommy shot-line and a number of handwritten notes with names of known local drug users was located in his car.
Later in September, a BMW was stopped, driven by Knowles, who decided to drive at 80mph and enter into a police chase was later arrested alongside Robinson, during the chase drugs were discarded and later found by a police dog.
A phone was seized from Robinson on his arrest, and it was noted that in the space of three hours, the phone received seventy-three missed calls. The phone was examined and came back as the fourth Tommy shot-line.
In October 2014, Robinson was seen acting suspiciously on Blackburn street in Radcliffe and was stopped by police, he was found in possession of a debt list, two phones and cash and it was found that between November and December 2015, the business had run and continued as normal uncovering a fifth Tommy shot-line which was in operation until Knowles' arrest in May 2015.
Following a lengthy investigation, detectives finally had enough evidence to charge the members of the group.
Detective Inspector Ian Toole, said: 'We are pleased to report that Knowles has been in court to face justice at last after attempting to run away from the justice system, and has now been sentenced.
'His actions and the actions of the crime group blighted our local community and exploited vulnerable people further afield.
'On the day of his sentencing in 2018, he pretended to be ill and using this as an opportunity to flee the country which started an international manhunt to locate him.
'No matter how much time has passed, we won't give up on finding you. We were assisted using our partner agencies to drag him back to the UK to face justice.
'If you are a criminal that has fled the UK to live in another country and thinks they can enjoy a life of luxury, you can't, we will find you and bring you back to face justice.
'It is only a matter of time before there will be a knock at your door and you will be dragged back here to face justice.'
The other members pleaded guilty and were sentenced at Bolton Crown Court in December 2016 and January 2017.
Nathan Dagnall, 30, from Breightmet, was jailed for 36 months for two counts of conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin.
Cameron Johnson, from Sale, received a custodial sentence of 40 months for two counts of conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin.
Noel Cowan, 50, from Tottington, was given two years' imprisonment, suspended for two years, for conspiracy to supply cocaine.