Middle-aged Leeds drug dealers spared prison due to 'squalid' existence
A judge took mercy on two middle-aged drug dealers after they were found to be living in “squalor”.
Richard Bolton and Sheraz Khan were spared custody, despite being caught selling deadly heroin and crack cocaine.
The pair both admitted two counts of dealing in Class A drugs during an appearance at Leeds Crown Court.
Patrolling police became suspicious of a VW Golf they spotted in Leeds in the early hours of September 20, 2023 which they felt was trying to avoid them, prosecutor Celine Kart told the court.
They later caught up with the Golf and pulled it over on Eyres Avenue in Armley. Khan, 43, was driving with 48-year-old Bolton in the passenger seat.
During a search they found three wraps of heroin on Khan and three mobile phones in the car.
Officers then noticed a package just two metres from the vehicle, suggesting it had been thrown. It contained crack cocaine deals in the same packaging as the heroin found on Khan.
The phones were also analysed and showed clear messages related to dealing.
Khan, of Fawcett Close, Lower Wortley, has two previous convictions including ABH. Bolton, of Coal Hill Green, Rodley, has eight convictions including possession of Class B drugs.
Mitigating for Bolton, Michael Collins said he had suffered from significant mental health issues since his teenage years, and had since been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
He said Bolton was having a “manic episode” at the time and was self medicating with crack cocaine.
For Khan, Giles Grant said drugs had “taken over his life” but was now stable on a methadone programme.
Khan, a father of four, had since made contact with his family.
Judge Richard Mansell KC told the defendants: “It’s clear to me you either ran up a drug debt with a supplier or made arrangements to finance your habit.”
He said he would spare them both immediate custody because of the “mess their lives were in” and the “squalor” in which they were living showed they were making little or no money.
He gave them each 24 months’ jail, suspended for 18 months, giving Khan 15 rehabilitation days with probation, and handing Bolton 20 days.