Dealer stopped in Leeds had 'shop' selection of drugs on offer
A judge told a Leeds dealer his business was “like a shop” due to the various drugs he was offering for sale.
Hasan Farooq was involved in selling cannabis, cocaine, MDMA and ketamine.
The 22-year-old even had business cards printed up bearing his phone number.
He was jailed at Leeds Crown Court this week after the court heard he had been prosecuted for drugs offences in the past.
He was already on a nine-month suspended sentence for dealing in cannabis when he was stopped again.
Acting on intelligence, police had pulled over his VW on the afternoon of December 28 on Meanwood Road, suspecting it was involved in drug dealing.
They found bags of cocaine and cannabis on him, the business cards, and after seizing his phone, found messages related to drug dealing.
Appearing in court over a video link from HMP Leeds, where he was being held on remand, Farooq, now of no fixed address, admitted dealing in cannabis and cocaine, being concerned in the supply of cannabis, cocaine, MDMA and ketamine and possessing criminal property.
Mitigating, Graham O'Sullivan said it was Farooq’s “attraction to easy money” that had driven him to deal, but conceded it had “come at a price”.
However, he said Farooq was “not a lost cause” and was a well-regarded young man in the community, carrying out voluntary and charity work.
He added: “He expresses how sorry he is for his actions, there’s no-one to blame but himself.
“He recognises that he needs to change, otherwise this pattern of behaviour will repeat itself.”
The judge, Recorder James Baird told Farooq: “There are two sides to your character, there’s the member of the community that does good work.
“You have let them down, not just once, but twice.
“You know that this offence is so serious that only immediate custody is appropriate.
“It was like a shop. It was not just cannabis, but ecstasy and ketamine.”
He jailed him for three years and activated six months of his suspended sentence, to run consecutively.