Corner shop linked to heroin conspiracy could be shut down over sales of 'pear cider'

A corner shop linked a major heroin conspiracy could be shut down after it was found illicitly selling "pear cider".

Drug-dealing shop boss Azhar Ali was jailed for six years and eight months last year after taking a delivery of two kilos of heroin worth £100,000 at the Cumberland Road Convenience Store in Linthorpe.

Cleveland Police has now applied for a review of the store’s licence “on the grounds of the prevention of crime and disorder and public safety”.

Officers say the shop has continued to breach licensing rules.

A review into the store’s licence will be held by Middlesbrough Council next Wednesday.

A Cleveland Police statement submitted before the hearing said a police licensing check last November found:

:: Perry products being sold in breach of the licence;

:: Problems with training records;

:: CCTV not being kept for the length of time required under the licence.

The Collins dictionary defines perry as being "alcoholic drink made of pears, similar in taste to cider".

“Given the issues surrounding the premises and the continued breach of licensing conditions, Cleveland Police have no alternative but to make an application to review the license,” the statement adds.

The force also raised concerns over a sub-letting of the premises - despite conditions placed on owner Arshad Ali that he would not lease the business.

Next Wednesday’s licensing hearing will also hear an application by Mr Ali to transfer the premises licence to Mahmood Hassan.

Azhar Ali, a dad-of-four, previously served a four-year jail sentence for a similar drugs conspiracy that had been a family enterprise.

Azhar Ali and Michael Wild

The courier Michael Wild, 51, from Rotherham, who was also dealing in cocaine to fund his own £700 a week addiction, was jailed for five years and eight months.

Wild drove up in his car at 8.30am but he left because Ali was not there.

Ali arrived a few minutes later and he was seen taping up a Bourbon creams biscuit box which contained £21,000 in cash as part payment.

Wild returned with a red, white and blue sports bag stuffed with two packages of heroin, and the police sprung the trap as he got back into his car with the cash.

Ali, of Park Road, Stockton, and Wild, of Lyndale Gardens, Rotherham, both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, and Wild also admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and possession of cannabis at Teesside Crown Court last November.