London - A gangster wanted by police has taunted them online by posting an audacious step-by-step guide to fleeing Britain. Drug dealer Sam Walker used private jets and hitched a lift on a cargo ship for his 5,000-mile trip to Africa.
The 34-year-old, who has more than 100 convictions, chronicled his journey to Sierra Leone, where he claimed to be doing charity work, in a video entitled: ‘How to get out of UK when your [sic] wanted by police. Can’t use an airport coz [sic] they will nick you.’
After arriving in the country’s capital, Freetown, Walker can be seen laughing into the camera and telling officers: ‘Better luck trying to catch me when I go out of the country next time, Merseyside Police.’
Walker, from Liverpool, was due in court in Chester for breaching an alleged driving ban in April. When he failed to turn up a warrant was issued for his arrest.
The video, posted to Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, shows Walker flying in a private jet to Belgium on May 23. He took another personal flight to Barcelona before hitching a ‘little 14-hour boat trip’ to Morocco.
Here’s how to get out the UK when you need to get to Africa to fulfill a promise to the people in the slums but your wanted by UK police and no they will nick you at the airport if you attempt to leave 👀🤦🏼♂️😂 pic.twitter.com/Cnt7PQZen4
— Sam Walker (@samwalker0151) May 30, 2018
According to the footage, Walker was then driven along Africa’s west coast, through Mauritania and Senegal to Guinea over three days, before finally before taking another boat to Freetown and arriving on Sunday, May 27.
Walker, whose grandfather came from Sierra Leone, said he had no choice but to skip the court hearing because it clashed with the departure of a shipping container filled with toys, clothes, food and other donations, for people living ‘in the slums’.
He could be jailed for up to six months when he returns home.
Speaking from Sierra Leone, Walker claimed: ‘I had to fulfil my promise to the people in the slums, knowing full well that when I am caught I will get the maximum sentence of four months in jail plus two months for missing my court date. The court date could wait.
‘I know when I come back to the UK I will be arrested and put straight in jail. Sometimes you have to do the wrong thing in the eyes of the law in order to do the right thing.’
Walker has spent most of his adult life in and out of jail. He was sentenced to four and a half years jail in 2008 after being caught peddling heroin and crack cocaine on the streets of Widnes and Runcorn in Cheshire. His gang earned up to £2,500 a day before being caught in a police sting that saw £12million of drugs seized along with luxury cars, bundles of cash and jewellery.
In 2014 Walker hit the headlines after publicly threatening to end the footballing career of ex-Everton player Ross Barkley after they rowed over a girl. The footballer spoke to police but declined to press charges.
Walker as also spent time behind bars for driving offences, possessing counterfeit cash and threatening a police officer but now says he wants to turn his life around.
He claims to have met Sierra Leone’s vice-president, Mohammed Juldeh Jalloh, during his visit, and has spent thousands installing a 5,000-litre fresh water tank and new water pipes in Freetown after seeing ‘men, women and children dying’.
Another video posted by Walker on Instagram shows locals cheering him as he films in the slums.
Merseyside Police said Walker was in fact wanted by neighbouring Cheshire Police, where a spokesman said: ‘We can confirm that Sam Walker failed to appear at court in relation to a disqualified driving offence. We are aware of the social media post and are reviewing it.’