Dogged young Leeds drug dealer told his sentences will get 'longer and longer'
A dealer was caught peddling deadly drugs not long after being released from his previous sentence.
Persistent James Maloney had wraps of cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin and more than £2,000 in cash in his car.
He was jailed at Leeds Crown Court this week, with the judge telling him it was “unavoidable” given he was on licence from a young offender institute for his previous involvement in the drugs trade.
The 21-year-old was behind the wheel of a white Ford Focus on June 2 when police stopped him in the petrol forecourt of Tesco in Hemsworth, Wakefield.
He had no insurance, but a search by officers led to knotted packages of the drugs being found. The crack cocaine was of high purity, prosecutor Adam Walker told the court.
They also found a baseball bat and a sickle in the Focus, along with cannabis, although no charges for these were brought against him.
Having been arrested, he refused to answer questions during his police interview.
Maloney, of Cottingley Springs, Gelderd Road, Gildersome, has eight previous convictions for 18 offences, including 34-month’s detention for dealing in Class A drugs.
He was then given three years’ detention for being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs, for which he had been released on licence.
For his most recent offending, he admitted three counts of dealing in Class A drugs, possession of criminal property and driving without insurance.
Mitigating, Eddison Flint said his main mitigation was his early guilty pleas.
He said he was being held at HMP Moorland in Doncaster and was working as a wing cleaner.
Mr Flint said: “He does not want to spend his 20s where he spent his teens. He has a lot to offer and wants to do that in society.”
The judge, Recorder Catherine Silverton said Maloney’s previous offences “significantly” aggravated the case.
She jailed him for 45 months and warned him that should he be caught again, he will face a mandatory seven-year sentence.
She added: “No judge will have the power to give you less than seven years. Sentences for drug dealers just get longer and longer.”