Teen dealer launched drugs from vehicle during police chase, Leeds Crown Court told

Declan Darling was seen acting suspiciously as a passenger in a Vauxhall Astra by police patrolling on Westgate in Wakefield on June 22, 2019.

After he accelerated away, the police activated their blue lights and pursued the car, then witnessed the packages being hurled into the street.

The Astra driver eventually lost control, mounting a grass verge. All three occupants got out and tried to flee along nearby Lawefield Lane but were quickly detained.

Five grammes of cannabis were found in the front passenger side, and the discarded packages were found after the police retraced their steps.

They contained 30 plastic wraps of heroin worth £283 and 56 wraps of crack cocaine worth £410, prosecutor Samuel Ponniah said.

Police dropped charges against one of the Astra occupants, while the third man is due to stand trial.

Darling, who was 17 at the time, was charged with intending to supply Class A drugs and possession of cannabis.

Leeds Crown Court was told he has eight previous convictions for 16 offences, including possession of cannabis in 2017. In 2020, he was handed 30 months in a young offenders institute for dealing crack and heroin – an incident which post-dated the chase through Wakefield.

Mitigating, Lara McBride said Darling had left school at 15 with limited qualifications having been excluded due to his bad behaviour.

“He fell in with the wrong crowd and started taking drugs,” Miss McBride added.

“He was not working and his drug use increased, and was shoplifting to pay for his habit.

"Things became progressively worse, he got into debt with his dealers and started dealing to pay that off.

"His drug use had such a hold on him he was not thinking about the consequences.”

Having been held on remand for a year, he is now drug free and is “motivated to draw a line in the sand”.

She said that Darling, now 21, and of New Fields Walk, Bradford, has since gained qualifications in English and maths.

Deputy Circuit Judge Timothy Clayson jailed him for 40 months.