Leeds drug dealer had £81k of cocaine and young child in car at McDonald's drive-through

A court heard Ashley Gibson had a three-year-old girl in the vehicle with him at the time of his arrest.

Gibson, jailed for five years, was stopped by police outside the McDonald’s in Farnley, Leeds, on September 28 this year.

Leeds Crown Court heard Gibson, 25, was asked if he had any drugs in the car and showed officers a white carrier bag containing the class A drug.

Tim Capstick, prosecuting, said the cocaine had a purity of 92 per cent.

It had a wholesale value of £25,000 but could be worth up to £81,000 if mixed with cutting agents and sold on the streets.

Gibson refused to comment when interviewed but pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply.

Mr Capstick said it was accepted that Gibson had been acting as a courier for others involved in supplying drugs.

He added: “This was clearly a defendant who was in a position of trust, given the quantity of those drugs and the potential street value.”

The court heard Gibson served a six month prison in 2013 for supplying cannabis.

Lorraine Harris, mitigating, said Gibson was a family man who had worked hard since his last conviction as a manager at a plumbing firm. The barrister said Gibson had agreed to transport the drugs after being offered £150 by those higher up the supply chain. Miss Harris said Gibson accepted that he would receive a lengthy prison sentence.

Jailing Gibson, Recorder Taryn Turner said: “You are a man with a marked history of offending. You did not learn your lesson from that last experience and arguably you have gone upstream by moving onto cocaine. You were doing it for extra money and bringing misery to other people by bringing these drugs into the community and ruining lives.”