Police officer on sick leave led double life as head of drugs gang and posed in 'Breaking Bad' t-shirt

A police officer who was living a double life as the head of a drugs gang while he was on sick leave posed in a Breaking Bad t-shirt at his cannabis farm before he was arrested.

PC Daniel Aimson wore a t-shirt on a visit to his cannabis farm which had a picture of Walter White from the hit US drama series about a school teacher who became a drug dealer.

The 36-year-old has admitted conspiracy to produce cannabis. He was sacked from his job in February after he was found to be head of a conspiracy to supply the Class B drug to criminals in Manchester and North Wales.

A court heard that the Wigan man used the identity of an unsuspecting member of the public who had his driving licence confiscated, to lease a commercial premise.

Aimson and his accomplices were operating two sophisticated drug factories in Railway Road, Leigh, which contained a haul of 165 plants containing drugs potentially worth more than £84,000 ($112,000), the court was told.

Manchester Crown Court heard that Aimson met Hussein Mozahem, 25, in the gym and they masterminded the criminal enterprise between January 2015 and June 2016.

Prosecutor Owen Edwards said: "He (Aimson) was seen at various stages on his own CCTV hard drive to wear a t-shirt depicting the lead character Walt in the hit TV series called Breaking Bad.

"The character plays a respectable chemistry teacher who adopts a professional approach to the production and distribution of the drug crystal meth, and becomes in the process a highly successful drug dealer.

"In his various text messages it is clear that Aimson revelled in his double life as officer and criminal," he said according to the Manchester Evening News (MEN).

A surveillance operation by Aimson's own force caught the defendant wearing the t-shirt referencing Breaking Bad, the court was told.

The sites contained 600 watt high energy lamps, an industrial odour neutraliser to mask smells, digital temperature and humidity monitoring, the court was told reported MEN.

Daniel Aimson, Richard Grady, Michael Hutton, Christopher King, Hussein Mozahem, George Parkinson, and Jonathon Vaiders, have all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce cannabis.

Steven Hindley pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis.