A MILLIONAIRE rabbi with a taste for cocaine and prostitutes has been cleared of running a drug dealing business.

Baruch Chalomish held his head in his hands as a jury foreman announced in court he was not guilty of supplying drugs.

He had earlier admitted possessing cocaine and will be sentenced on December 17. Rabbi Chalomish is facing a community sentence and will go into rehab.

The 54-year-old father of three, who says he is worth £7m net from his commercial property empire, admitted he had become addicted to cocaine, spending up to £1,000-a-week on the drug.

Extraordinary

He said he sought solace in cocaine and prostitutes following the sudden death of his 'angel', wife Freda, from cancer at the age of 40 in 1996.

At Manchester Crown Court, Judge Michael Henshell thanked the jury and told them: “Ladies and gentlemen, you have listened to an extraordinary case. It's not the usual case of drug dealing or possession of drugs.

"You heard facts which were really outside my experience, dealing with a man who was an eminent member of his community who was in possession of drugs who was on trial facing drugs supply charges. I'm sure you could not fail to be moved by what you heard.”

When police raided a one-bed hotel apartment on Shudehill, Manchester, on January 5, they found Chalomish together with convicted drug dealer Nasir Abbas along with 50g of cocaine dotted around the apartment, digital scales, nearly £3,000 in cash and cutting agent used to dilute the drug before it is sold.

Parties

The flat was used for cocaine parties.

Police also raided the rabbi's home on Upper Park Road, Salford, and found a further 50g of cocaine, more cutting agent and nearly £16,000 in cash.

By the time he was arrested, the rabbi had been on a five-day cocaine binge. He admitted he used prostitutes and was generous with them.

However, although he admitted possessing the drug he denied he was financing a 'commercial cocaine supply operation'.

He said the huge supply of the drug found at his home was for his personal use, claiming he was a natural hoarder who liked to stockpile other goods like tins of food and boxes of tissues as well as cocaine.

Charity

He liked very pure cocaine - 'the good stuff' – and went to Abbas, who could provide 'the best in town'. He told the court he used it to sleep.

The bundles of cash around his home was mostly for charity, he said.

His friends and family told the court the rabbi was a generous giver, handing over £70,000-a-year to his brother-in-law's charity and slipping envelopes stuffed with cash through letterboxes of the needy.

However, he became increasingly isolated from his family and the rest of the Jewish community, claiming he kept them at arm's length because he did not want to be exposed as a cocaine user.

Exposed

But his secret and reputation were exposed when police found him at his latest cocaine party on Shudehill.

Chalomish's fall from his position in society has been spectacular. Born in Israel, he became a rabbi and moved to the UK, briefly leading a congregation in Glasgow where he also lectured on the bible.

His co-accused Abbas, 54, of Manchester Road, Chorlton, was jailed for six years in his absence after the jury found him guilty of supplying the cocaine at the party.

Abbas has already served a ten-year jail sentence for conspiring to supply drugs.

He is being hunted by police.

Whereabouts

Detective Inspector Denise Sweeney of North Manchester's Pro-Active Team said: "Drugs are a major blight on our communities and convictions like today help to show how seriously we take this issue.

"Abbas was tried and sentenced in his absence and we are now trying to trace him so he can serve his time in prison. If anyone knows of his whereabouts please get in touch so we can put him where he belongs.

"I would urge the local community to contact police if they have any information about the trade of illegal drugs in their area so we can stop their sale and use."