A PROLIFIC drug dealer who was captured in a daring early morning police swoop - dubbed "Operation Extinct" - on a rented flat on Macclesfield's Weston Estate has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.

As "loner" Michael Ault - a 32-year-old pedlar of misery - began life behind bars, Macclesfield police praised the public for their part in the arrest and giving them the intelligence to act on.

And they urged them to continue grassing on the drug pushers who ply their evil trade on the streets of Macclesfield as they battle to clean up the town.

Inspector Gareth Woods, head of Macclesfield Neighbourhood Policing Unit, was in charge of the operation which swooped on five suspected drug dens on four estates - Hurdsfield, The Moss, Upton Priory and The Weston.

He said after the court case: "I'm very pleased with the result. The important thing this prosecution shows is that when the public give us information we can act upon it.

"And I want to thank them for their help in this case, because the information given was spot on. I want to now urge them to keep up the good work."

And another officer Sergeant Russ Thomas said: "The sentence sends out a message across Macclesfield and should act as a deterrent to others."

And he warned: "The drug suppliers are the key in these operations. We will continue to plague them, and even when they think it has gone quiet, they will have to watch their backs."

Ault - said by detectives to keep himself to himself - was caught red-handed back in March when body-armoured officers battered his door down to find him sitting in an armchair at his coffee table measuring out crack cocaine and heroin.

And a reporter from the Macclesfield Express was there to witness the event.

Ault was collared at 8am. Officers, wearing bullet proof vests, knocked the front door off its hinges with a battering ram, before running up the narrow stairs to find Ault with £2,000 worth of the drugs laid out.

The flat was littered with syringes. There was a set of electronic scales to weigh out the drugs on the table, and a homemade bong for smoking cannabis, fashioned from a glass Lucozade bottle. X-Box and Playstation computer games were piled up in a corner.

Three months later, Ault of Weston Square, appeared before Chester Crown Court circuit judge when he admitted two offences of possession of class A drugs with intent to supply.

Later, Sergeant Thomas, of Macclesfield Neighbourhood Policing Unit, said: "He really was caught red-handed. I think he was totally stunned by the speed of our entry. He looked as though he was a bit out of it."

And borough councillor Alift Harewood, who represents the Weston Estate, said: "This is a good news story. Given the reputation of the estate, it's an example of the good work the police are doing here, and I hope it acts as a deterrent for others.

"Drugs are a big problem for us here. It harms the reputation of the estate and the young people. I'm grateful for the continuous work of the officers on the beat who are keeping their ears to the ground."

  • To report drugs activity in your area, call Macclesfield Police on 0845 4586371, or Cimestoppers on 0800 555111.