'Cuckooing' Leeds teen crack dealer refused to explain involvement in exchange for shorter jail sentence

Stubborn Nabil Ahmed refused to explain why he was involved in dealing deadly heroin and crack cocaine, or speak with probation.

The 18-year-old, who has no previous convictions, was handed a 26-month jail sentence this week at Leeds Crown Court after admitting two counts of dealing in Class A drugs.

Mitigating on his behalf, Charles Blatchford said: "He does not wish to engage or offer any explanation as to why he was involved in drug dealing.

"Any mitigation I have is relatively limited. He is not someone who is a troublemaker generally. It's a shame he won't engage."

The court heard that plain-clothes officers had been working in Burmantofts on March 3 with an intention of catching drug dealers.

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They went to the home of a man whom they suspected was the victim of "cuckooing" - when dealers take over a property to ply their trade. But while they were present, Ahmed turned up.

They stopped and searched him and found the heavy man bag he was holding was full of coins and notes totalling £503. They also found more than 70 wraps of heroin and crack on him with a street value of £400.

They also searched his home on Oxley Street, East End Park, and found a set of weighing scales used to separate drugs into deals. During his police interview he gave a prepared statement but denied any knowledge of allegations of cuckooing.

Jailing him, Judge Robin Mairs said: "We gave tried to help you to help yourself with a pre-sentence report, but you refused. I accept to some extent you will have been used by others above you in the drugs chain."