'Bullied' dealer caught selling deadly drugs in Harehills twice in two weeks
A dealer who claimed he was being bullied into selling drugs to clear a debt was caught twice in as many weeks, despite being wanted to stay away from Harehills.
Brandon Jackson was jailed at Leeds Crown Court even after claiming he had no choice but to flog the deadly substances.
Appearing in court via video link from HMP Leeds, he admitted three counts of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.
Patrolling officers had first witnessed Jackson dealing to a man and a woman in the Harehills area on August 4 last year. Jackson ran when the officers moved in but he was picked up by another patrol a short time later.
He had £275 in cash on him and 20 wraps of crack cocaine worth £390. He also had two phones from which messages advertising drugs had been sent. The second phone also had messages about Jackson “grafting” to pay back money owed.
The 23-year-old gave a no-comment police interview. He was later bailed and ordered to stay out of the Harehills area.
On the evening of August 24 police found him in the area and arrested him. He was found to have £2,300 worth of crack cocaine and heroin on him, and more phones from which drugs-for-sale messages were found.
He told officers he had been “bullied into it”, the court heard. He said he owed about £2,000 and needed to pay it back by being put to work as a street dealer.
Mitigating, Shufqat Khan said Jackson, of no fixed address, was not a “sophisticated individual”. He said there had been an “element of pressure” and that he was “easily led who was more at risk than your average person”.
Judge Anesh Pema jailed Jackson for a total of 40 months.