Roy Hickman, 42, was arrested after police pulled over a BMW at Princes Dock in Liverpool.[1] He was the front passenger when police stopped the grey BMW on William Jessop Way on 6 July 2026.[1] Officers seized a quantity of cannabis from the car and searched his home on the same street.[1] The search found three phones, two in the bedroom and one in the living room, and a fourth was taken from him at the custody suite.[1] Having more than one phone breached a serious crime prevention order, known as an SCPO, imposed to limit his return to crime.[1]
Hickman, originally from Dovecot, had been sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court to 172 months in prison for conspiracy to supply class A drugs, and the order runs until 2029.[1] He had been released on licence from that sentence in November 2024.[2] He was recalled to prison the day after his arrest and held in custody until sentence.[1] The court heard he had 34 convictions for 89 offences, including dishonesty, robbery and drug dealing.[1]
He denied the breach at Wirral Magistrates’ Court in July.[3] He pleaded guilty at Liverpool Crown Court on 4 August.[4] The prosecution accepted the plea and a charge of cannabis possession was ordered to lie on the file.[1] On 19 August, Judge Brian Cummings KC adjourned sentence so police could examine the phones.[2] The judge said he was “amazed” that officers had seized phones and not thought to have them examined.[2] Three months later, the court heard the phones had been sent to the police digital unit and “added to the pile” before it was determined they could not be downloaded.[1] His barrister, John Rowan, said he had served the equivalent of a 12-month prison sentence waiting for the tests and was suffering from psychosis.[1]
Recorder Harriet Johnson sentenced him on the basis that the phones contained no evidence of criminality.[1] She gave him a 12-month conditional discharge and told him: “You will receive no further punishment provided you commit no further offence in the next 12 months.”[1] The judge ordered the three phones found at his home and the cannabis forfeited, and the phone found on him returned.[1] Hickman, who appeared by video link from HMP Altcourse, is due at a parole hearing next month.[1]
