Wakefield: Wheelchair-bound Wakefield dealer found with 1kg of ketamine avoids being locked up

Ricardo Farrah, who has cerebral palsy, had his Wakefield home raided in 2022, and police found links to other big-time dealers. The 23-year-old admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and intent to supply ketamine.

Leeds Crown Court heard that acting on a tip-off, police raided Farrah’s home on Long Pye Close, Woolley Grange, on August 21, 2022, armed with a search warrant. They found Farrah home and just under 1kg of ketamine, a Class B drug, in a safe. They also found a parcel he had left outside with 20 street deals of the drug.

The overall total value was £20,000. They also found scales, a dealer list, numerous mobile phones, a Samurai sword and machete. He gave a no-comment interview to police.

CCTV of the property showed Farrah and another man, Jonathan Plews regularly arriving at the property in an Audi A3.

Plews was jailed in 2023 for four years for large-scale drug dealing after he was arrested at Manchester Airport when he landed from a holiday in Turkey. His phone was analysed and showed regular messages between him and Farrah about drugs.

They had conversations about cocaine, but Farrah was “primary involved in the supply of ketamine”, prosecutor Stephen Littlewood said. He said they would assist each other in managing stock levels of drugs, and Farrah would agree to sell cocaine to users on Plews’ behalf.

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Farrah, now of Birk Road, Barnsley, has no previous convictions. Little mitigation was offered by his barrister Jeremy Barton after Judge Simon Batiste said he would not lock him up. Instead, he gave him a two-year sentence, suspended for two years, 20 rehabilitation days and a six-month nightly curfew to remain at home.

He acknowledged his physical issues, but also highlighted his very low IQ, describing him as a vulnerable person.

Judge Batiste said: “These are serious matters but looking at the case, there are unusual circumstances, both in terms of your physical and mental abilities.

“I’m just persuaded that the sentence can be suspended. I have found your case to be extraordinary difficult. Much of it [the drugs] may not have been yours but you were storing it for others.”