Drug-dealing Leeds menace who made residents' lives a misery is jailed and banned from Beeston

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A drug-dealing menace who threatened neighbours and plied his evil trade from multiple properties has been jailed and ordered to stay away from Beeston.

Ryan Long was given a lengthy prison term at Leeds Crown Court after he was twice caught selling deadly heroin and crack cocaine.

He was also handed a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) which bans from entering the area he had terrorised. That will run for five years.

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Judge Ray Singh told him: “Over the last 18 months you have been involved in drug dealing from at least seven properties that police have been able to identify.

“Over 100 individuals have been spoken to - they suffered threats of violence, lack of sleep and are scared to leave their homes.

“Many witnesses are frightened to come forward and report what is going on.”

Long (pictured) received a lengthy jail sentence and a CBO banning him from an area of Beeston where he had terrorised residents.Long (pictured) received a lengthy jail sentence and a CBO banning him from an area of Beeston where he had terrorised residents.
Long (pictured) received a lengthy jail sentence and a CBO banning him from an area of Beeston where he had terrorised residents. | WYP / Google Maps / National World

The 23-year-old was fist arrested when patrolling officers witnessed him sell drugs through the basement window of a flat on Longroyd Street on November 29, 2023.

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They moved to arrest him and found he had secreted 50 wraps of crack and heroin, worth £830, in his underwear that police say he tried to hide in his anus. They also seized £272 in cash. He gave no comments during his police interview.

He was released under investigation, prosecutor Bashir Ahmed told the court.

A year later, on November 26, 2024, police raided a property at Moor Crescent Chase and found Long again. He was living in the one-bedroom flat with his mother.

The officers recovered cannabis worth £2,130, heroin worth £1,010 and crack worth £100.

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They also seized £2,218 in cash, a mobile phone which contained clear messages related to dealing, and weighing scales. He told police he was on his way to pay dealers further up the chain the money that he owed.

He has 12 convictions for 18 offences, including burglary, theft, assaults on emergency workers, and one for possession of cocaine and cannabis.

Appearing in custody this week via video link from HMP Leeds, Long admitted three counts of dealing in Class A drugs, one of dealing in Class B, two of possessing criminal property, and possession of Class A drugs.

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Mitigating Michael Walsh conceded it was an “inevitable jail sentence” and that Long had been “coming to terms with that”.

He said Long had become involved in drugs and racked up a debt, forcing him into dealing. He added: “It’s a tale as old as time but it does not make it any better.

“He has had drug issues on and off in the past. In more recent times he became under the influence of people whom he owed money to.”

Judge Singh jailed Long for 45 months, and as part of his CBO, he is prevented entering parts of Beeston and is only permitted to have one mobile phone, which must be registered with police to help prevent him dealing drugs.

CBOs allow the police and courts to act swiftly and return defendants to prison should they breach the orders.

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