Leeds dealer has prison sentence extended after he drove 'mobile drug dealing unit' during carnival weekend

Benjamin Connor and two other men - Kyra Hanley and Anton Brown - were arrested after police stopped their car and found class A and B drugs along with mobile phones and cash.

Leeds Crown Court heard West Yorkshire Police officers stopped the men in the vehicle in Chapeltown on August 26, 2018.

Eleanor Fry, prosecuting, said the offending took place during the carnival bank holiday weekend.

Officers asked the men if they had drugs in the vehicle.

Hanley told the officers he had some cannabis for personal use and showed them two small bags of the class B drug.

The officers then found £875 in cash in the rear footwell of the car along with further quantities of cannabis. Eight mobile phones were seized from the car.

Hanley was arrested and taken to a police station to be searched and was found in possession of bags of MDMA, skunk cannabis and cocaine.

Hanley's home was searched and large amounts of cash were recovered as well as more drugs.

Ms Fry said £1,120 was found in a jacket pocket at the property and £1,400 was in the pocket of a dressing gown hung on the back of a door.

Most of the phones recovered from the car were found to be burner phones and could not be unlocked.

One phone contained references to the supply of MDMA, ketamine and cocaine during July and August 2018.

Connor, 28, of Alderton Crescent, Moortown, pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing a class A drug with intent to supply and two of possessing a class B drug with intent to supply.

Hanley, 26, of Miles Hill View, Leeds, pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing a class A drug with intent to supply, two of possessing a class B drug with intent to supply and possessing criminal property.

Brown, 24, of Stainbeck Road, Leeds, pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing a class A drug with intent to supply, two of possessing a class B drug with intent to supply, being concerned in supplying a class A drug and being concerned in supplying a class B drug.

The court heard Connor is currently serving a six-year sentence after he was caught during a police chase with 3kg of cocaine, worth more than £100,000 in his car.Connor has also served a 45-month prison sentence in the past for possessing cocaine and cannabis with intent to supply.

Mark Foley, mitigating for Connor, said the defendant had been driving the car when the men were arrested.

He asked judge Robin Mairs to take into account the three-year delay in the case coming before the court when sentencing.

Conner was given an 18-month sentence, to run consecutive to the sentence he is currently serving.

Catherine Duffy, for Brown, said her client had been pressured into becoming involved in street drug dealing by others but had not been in trouble since his arrest.

Ms Duffy said Brown had got a job working in a warehouse and is now dedicated to supporting his family.

Nicholas Hammond, for Hanley, said his client had become a father and had not been in trouble since committing the offences.

Brown and Hanley were both given two-year sentences, suspended for two years, and ordered to do 240 hours of unpaid work.

Judge Mairs said: "The three of you were running a mobile drug dealing unit."