News: Smiley Culture
Late reggae star masterminded a £400,000 cocaine supply plot, court hears
Eighties reggae star Smiley Culture aka David Emmanuel was involved in a £400,000 cocaine supply plot, a court heard yesterday.
The singer — who scored a hit in 1984 with satirical track ‘Police Officer’ — was on bail when he is alleged to have stabbed himself in the heart last year in a drugs raid relating to a separate offence.
Lloyd McCalla, 50, and Carlene Wilson, 27, were accused of conspiring with Emmanuel to supply cocaine in 2010, charges which the pair deny.
Prosecutor Tom Little told Croydon crown court: “David Emmanuel needed these drugs distributed and that is where the McCalla family come in.”
The case continues.
An Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigation into Emmanuel’s death condemned the raid as flawed and ordered the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to overhaul the way they planned future drug seizures, but found no evidence that a criminal offence had been committed.
Emmanuel’s family now plan to launch a private prosecution against the officers involved in the raid.
