Shrewsbury dealer jailed for drug offences committed while on bail

Joshua Lucas, 26, of Harley Drive, Shrewsbury, was a year into his five-year sentence for drug dealing when he appeared before Shrewsbury Crown Court on Tuesday.

The court heard how Lucas had been on bail for those two offences in 2021 when he was found dealing class A drugs in Shrewsbury on three more occasions.

Dean Easthope, prosecuting, said the first of these arrests occurred on January 22, when Lucas was seen at an address in Shrewsbury known to house a vulnerable person who had previously been targeted by county line dealers.

"When police entered the address they found the defendant in bed asleep. He became aggressive and officers had to restrain him," Mr Easthope said.

He said Lucas was found to be in possession of 27 wraps of heroin and 16 wraps of crack cocaine along with £25 in cash.

Mr Easthope said just three weeks later, Lucas was arrested again, on February 11, when officers went to check on another vulnerable person known to have been targeted by county line dealers in Worcester Road, Shrewsbury.

"Officers heard a number of people running around upstairs. There was the defendant and three others," Mr Easthope said.

He said officers found 53 wraps of heroin along with around 2.8 grams of crack cocaine, digital scales and £271 in cash.

On the third occasion, officers had attempted to stop Lucas in the street in York Road, Shrewsbury, on April 11, but the defendant fled, resulting in a chase. When officers finally caught him they found 34 grams of heroin along with 19 grams of crack cocaine.

Lucas admitted six drug-related offences when he appeared before Judge Peter Barrie at Shrewsbury Crown Court this week. The judge had sentenced Lucas to five years at the same court in February last year for similar crimes.

In sentencing for these three new offences, Judge Barrie said: "You came before me one year ago in connection with two occasions of county lines drug dealing of class A drugs and exploiting the premises of vulnerable people.

"Again you were engaged in a similar scale of county lines drug dealing of class A drugs and exploiting the premises of vulnerable people and were doing so despite the warnings you had of being arrested on the previous two occasions.

"This sort of persistent offending and the harm caused by county lines drug dealing of class A drugs are potent factors."

The judge said that if Lucas had been sentenced for these crimes when he had appeared before him for the other offences in 2022, he would have given him six years instead of five.

"The sentence I impose for the six counts is five years for each count but the sentence will run concurrent with each other and they start today," he told Lucas.

He said that the concurrent sentences "had the effect" of extending the original five-year sentence handed to Lucas in 2022 to six years.

The judge also ordered the drugs, paraphernalia and phones to be destroyed.