A man who once fired a submachine gun towards police has now been jailed for dealing cocaine.
Farris Thomas was spotted by two plain clothes officers sent to deal with a domestic incident in Toxteth .
The then 21-year-old unloaded three rounds from a MAC-10 in the direction of PC Martin Randles and PC Mark Cave in 2003.
The bullets missed but he was locked up for eight years in 2004 after admitting possessing the gun with intent to resist arrest.
Liverpool Crown Court today heard Thomas, now 36, of Childers Street, Old Swan , stayed out of trouble on his release from prison.
However, police discovered he was cutting up and selling drugs when they raided his home at 9.20am on October 20 last year.
Philip Hall, prosecuting, said they found 49g of cocaine, ranging in purity from 25% to 67%, with an estimated street value of £4,921.
Officers seized 35g of benzocaine and caffeine, commonly used as cutting agents, which Thomas had been mixing with cocaine.
They also recovered 7g of the opiate buprenorphine and less than a gram of the hallucinogenic dimenthyltryptamine, aka DMT.
Police retrieved electronic scales, plastic snap bags and tick lists, but Thomas made no comment when arrested or when interviewed.
This afternoon he admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply, plus possession of buprenorphine and dimenthyltryptamine.
Firearm laws
The incident involving PCs Randles and Cave unfolded when they came across Thomas in Northbrook Close in August 2003.
They called for back-up from uniformed officers after seeing Thomas carrying an object inside a plastic bag with both hands.
He tried to hide his face and they followed him to Rosebery Street and made a scramble call, because they suspected he might be armed.
Gerald Jones, prosecuting, told the court in 2004 that PC Randles spotted the barrel of a gun sticking out of the bag.
Mr Jones said: "The gun was being pointed in their general direction. Suddenly, a loud bang was heard and a yellow and white flash seen.
"The officers stepped back, obviously quite shaken."
Thomas, formerly of Mafeking Close, Toxteth, disappeared and the gun was never recovered.
However, the court heard officers searched the area where the shots were fired and found three spent 9mm cartridges.
Experts said this showed the trigger of the gun, made for use by the U.S. military, was pressed for less than one second.
Thomas, who was arrested at a house in Old Swan on August 12, 2003, claimed he had been in Manchester at the time.
He later admitted possessing a prohibited weapon, but was cleared of possessing it with intent to endanger life.
Nicholas Johnson, then defending Thomas, said he had been asked by others to move the gun for money.
He said: "He became extremely nervous and does accept he made the wrong decision.''
At the time Judge David Boulton, sentencing, said: "This was a sub-machine gun capable of firing many rounds of bulleted ammunition in a second.
"It is the sort of weapon which has no lawful use. In this case, it was used to resist arrest and it was fired in the direction of serving police officers."
Ian Harris, defending Thomas today, said he gained a good job with a motorway maintenance company after he came out of jail.
However, he said the dad-of-four suffered an injury, became depressed and began to take cocaine.
He said his client's mental health deteriorated, he lost his job and started dealing the drug at a low level.
Judge David Aubrey, QC, today said he could only impose a custodial sentence and jailed Thomas for two years.
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