'A cock and bull story': Teen dealer claimed £4,000 of hard drugs were for personal use

Judge Tom Bayliss KC labelled Nicholas Lee's account as "nonsense" after police raided his Leeds home when he was just 17 and found the large stash of substances.

Leeds Crown Court heard that officers, armed with a warrant, got into his top-floor flat on Haslewood Court in Burmantofts on November 9, 2021. Once inside, they found 255 wraps of heroin worth £3,370 and a further 90 wraps of crack cocaine, all found to contain his finger prints.

They also found around £800 in cash and several mobile phones and sim cards. The phones contained messages indicative with dealing, prosecutor Bashir Ahmed told the court.

Lee, now of Sunbridge Road, Bradford, was interviewed and was adamant the drugs for just for him. He eventually admitted two counts of dealing in Class A drugs.

Judge Bayliss questioned why it had taken so long to reach court and told the Crown: "He was caught red-handed with lots of drugs, paraphernalia and cash. It could not have been a clearer case. He said it was for personal use, which was nonsense. It was a cock and bull story. If he had told the truth when he was 17, he could have been dealt with at the youth court."

It was agreed that a combination of Lee's lies and the pandemic led to the overall delay.

A probation report found that Lee had been in a "vulnerable position" at the time, having to fend for himself. He had started taking heroin and fell prey to dealers. The report suggested he wanted a career in the Army, which was now in jeopardy.

No further mitigation was offered by his defence counsel, Eddison Flint, after Judge Bayliss said he would not lock him up.

Instead, he gave him a 24-month sentence, suspended for 24 months, and 200 hours of unpaid work. He told Lee: "You were dealing drugs on a pretty substantial scale, and you decided to try and lie your way out of it."