Cocaine, cannabis and cash: Wolverhampton drug dealer caught by uninsured car
A drug dealer drove into trouble when he failed to insure his car, a judge heard.
A police patrol checked details of the Fiesta after spotting it being driven through Wolverhampton in the early hours, the city's Crown Court was told.
The officers thought Leonard Johns was trying to hide something after ordering him to stop on November 11.
It turned out to be a small amount of cocaine for his own use but further examination of the car unearthed a mobile phone and £690 cash.
Cannabis worth £12,000 together with a further £6,500 cash, two more mobile phones, scales and other 'tools of the trade' were found at his home, disclosed Mr Paul Spratt, prosecuting, who continued: "It was plain the defendant was significantly involved in dealing these drugs."
Mr Sanjay Toora, defending, said: "This whole episode began as a result of his cocaine habit."
This left Johns unable to settle debts run up with his drug dealer who ordered the defendant to sell cannabis for him in default of repayment, the court heard.
Johns from Myatt Avenue, Parkfields pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis with intent to supply, possession of cocaine and driving without insurance.
He was given one years detention suspended for 18 months with a six month night time curfew and ordered to do150 hours unpaid work.
Recorder Ben Mills remarked: "You were stopped because the police realised you were uninsured and they saw you hide something in your jogging bottoms that turned out to be cocaine.
"There were text messages on your phone that indicated you were street dealing and had an understanding of the scale of the operation.
"But you now see this as a grave error of judgment and are not associating with those people any more. So I am going to give you a chance. You show a lot of promise for the future which you almost threw away."
