rabbi who was arrested after a five-day binge of cocaine and prostitutes said that he took drugs to alleviate the loneliness he felt after his wife died.
Baruch Chalomish, 55, told a court that he began snorting the drug because he felt lonely after his wife died, insisting: “I wanted to stop feeling depressed, to feel normal.” The Israeli-born father of three, who was once an eminent Jewish academic, has in recent years built a £7 million fortune from astute share dealing and property development. The prosecution at Manchester Crown Court claim that the rabbi was the financier in a commercial cocaine-supply business while his alleged accomplice, Nasir Abbas, 54, a convicted drug dealer, provided the drugs and the customers. They rented a luxury service flat in northern Manchester over the new year holidays where the rabbi admits that he indulged to excess. Police found 101g of cocaine at the flat and his home along with cutting agents and “snap bags” but he insists that he is not a drug dealer. He stepped into the witness box to say that he felt deeply ashamed of his behaviour. He told his defence counsel, Jonathan Goldberg, QC, that he began taking cocaine three years ago when he was introduced to it by an Israeli friend with whom he celebrated the Sabbath. He was introduced in turn to Mr Abbas. Both men are accused of possessing cocaine, which Chalomish admits, and dealing the drug, which he denies. They would go to parties in flats around Manchester and snort cocaine alongside “distinguished” professionals such as doctors, he said. Chalomish frequently broke down and cried when the death of his wife, Freda, who died aged 40 in 1996, was mentioned. When asked why he took the drug, he said: “I probably wanted to forget her death.” Cocaine allowed him to feel so high he no longer had any worries, and not feel lonely any more. “This was very important to me,” he said. The rabbi, who agreed he spent up to £1,000 a week on cocaine, bowed his head and cried as he admitted he paid prostitutes to have sex with him. He said he bought the cocaine from Mr Abbas, who also organised the parties.He insisted that he bought only the purest cocaine from Mr Abbas, who provided “the best in town”. Chalomish said: “If you go to the streets you buy cocaine, they can mix it with dangerous things. And I didn’t want to have this so when I have pure cocaine I know nothing is mixed with it. I know I’m not taking something which can damage my health more than cocaine itself.” The rabbi told the court that by the time he was arrested in an hotel apartment on Shudehill, Manchester, on January 5, he had been on a cocaine and prostitute binge that had lasted up to five days.
He admitted he was “exhausted” as he had been doing “a lot of sniffing”.
The rabbi told the court he was introduced to one prostitute called Emma. He had paid between £400 and £500 to spend two days with her.
Asked why police found so much cocaine in his house in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, Chalomish said: “First of all it is difficult to get pure stuff. Once you get it, you get quite a lot, so I know I have supplies for the next three or six months.” Asked by his counsel how he felt now the court case had been reported in the media, Chalomish replied: “Deeply ashamed. It is probably the biggest punishment I have ever had in my life.” Mr Abbas failed to turn up for the trial, which has gone ahead in his absence. The jury has been told that he telephoned his solicitor on the eve of the trial to claim that the rabbi had made a threatening call and had sent heavies to his house to warn him off.Chalomish denies making any such threats. The trial continues.
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