Co-op drug dealer snared by Leeds police during surveillance operation
A drug dealer who blighted a shopping parade was caught after a police surveillance operation.
Dwayne Cordingley was seen peddling heroin and crack cocaine near the Co-op on Swinnow Lane in Bramley.
Due to pressure from the community to take action, officers staked out the area and spotted 34-year-old Cordingley lead another man to the alleyway behind the shop and sell him drugs on October 30.
Officers approached but the men began walking in the opposite direction, before Cordingley sped up and began to run, Leeds Crown Court heard.
He entered a garden on Harley Close and then hid behind a van and tried to discard bags full of drugs.
He was arrested and searched and found to have bags of heroin and crack cocaine, prosecutor Joel Wootton said.
They then searched his address on New Street Grove in Pudsey and found more drugs, weighing scales, dealer bags and a tick list. His mobile phone also contained clear evidence of dealing.
In total, they recovered £2,170 in crack cocaine, £480 in heroin and £120 of cannabis. He later gave a no-comment interview to police.
He admitted two counts of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs, two of intending to supply Class A drugs, supplying Class A drugs and intending to supply a Class B drug.
He has previous convictions, but none for drug dealing.
Mitigating, Anthony Sugare said that unlike many dealers, Cordingley did not have an addiction himself but did it simply because he was “short of money”.
Mr Sugare said he was “refreshingly honest” but added: “He accepts it was a big mistake, it seems completely out of character to get involved in such significant criminal behaviour.”
He said that the dealing was “very unsophisticated” and there were no “vast riches”.
But Judge Simon Phillips KC disagreed that Cordingley’s reason for selling was “refreshing” and told him: “You were prepared to exploit other people’s addiction and their misery for your own financial benefit.”
He jailed him for 40 months.