Telford drug dealer caught after drugs found in car

Kiefer Brookes was later linked to a stash of cannabis found in sheds at a house in Telford by his fingerprints, Shrewsbury Crown Court was told.

The 24-year-old was given a total of two years in prison suspended for two years when he appeared at court.

He had pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and cannabis with intent to supply in November 2015, and possession of cannabis with intent to supply in January last year.

Judge Jim Tindal said that suspending the jail sentence, along with other measures, would give Brookes a better chance of tackling his drug addiction as well as being a form of punishment.

Brookes, of Summer Crescent in Wrockwardine Wood, was also made subject to a drug rehabilitation programme for a year and must compete 100 hours unpaid work and pay £250 costs.

Miss Gemma Maxwell, prosecuting, said that on November 26, 2014, Brookes' Vauxhall Astra was stopped when it was seen being driven erratically.

Officers noticed the defendant was nervous and was seen to conceal some drugs inside his trousers. The car was searched and 14 small bags of cocaine and 27 bags of cannabis – with an estimated value of £800 – were recovered.

Three phones were also seized and a further mobile phone and a quantity of cocaine was found at his home address. Analysis of the phones showed he was dealing drugs.

Two months later, on January 29 last year, police arrested a number of people for drugs offences at a house in East Avenue, Donnington. Among them was 48-year-old David Furness who was found in possession of a small quantity of cannabis.

Officers were sent to his address in nearby Coronation Drive where 19-year-old Jake Boissel was seen near outhouses. When the sheds were searched almost £1,000 worth of cannabis, concealed in bags and jars, was found. The fingerprints of both Brookes and Boissel were found on the items.

The court heard that both Furness and Boissel were living at the Coronation Drive address at the time.

Miss Maxwell said Boissel had admitted possessing the cannabis with intent to supply on the basis that he was acting as a "custodian" of the drugs for Brookes. Boissel, now of Wallesey, Merseyside, was given a 12-month community order and he must pay £150 costs. Also in the dock was Furness, who had admitted possession of cannabis, and was given a conditional discharge for a year and must pay £100 costs.

Mr Stephen Scully, for Brookes, said his client

became depressed and dabbled with cocaine and had moved into low-scale dealing to fund his drugs habit.