Teenager who found himself out of work because of the first Covid lockdown turned to drug-dealing in Leamington to earn some cash
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When a young man found himself out of work because of the first Covid lockdown last year, he turned to drug-dealing to earn some cash.
But after selecting Leamington ‘at random’ for his money-making enterprise, Elvis Boateng was arrested after plain-clothed officers spotted him selling to a known addict.
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Hide AdAnd at Warwick Crown Court, less than half a mile from where he was caught, he pleaded guilty to possessing heroin and cocaine with intent to supply them.
Boateng (19) of Letchlade Close, Henley Green, Coventry, was sentenced to two years in prison suspended for 18 months and was ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work.
Prosecutor Omar Majid said that in August last year police officers on plain-clothed patrol saw Boateng with a known drug-user in Riverside, just off Adelaide Road in Leamington.
He was stopped, and when the officers searched him they found seven wraps of cocaine, four of heroin and £135 in cash.
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Hide AdSo he was arrested, and the police then searched his bedroom at his home, where they found a further ten wraps of crack cocaine and another £510 in cash.
When he was interviewed Boateng said he had been on his way home when he was arrested, but had come to Leamington to sell drugs ‘to anyone who would buy them,’ having chosen the town at random.
He said he had been there for 3-4 hours but, despite what the officers had seen, claimed he had not sold any and that the money found on him was from a friend.
And of the money found at his home, he said that had come from work, but in fact he had not worked for some time because of Covid.
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Hide AdBoateng added that he was not working with anyone else in his drug-dealing –although Mr Majid pointed out that in his pre-sentence report he ‘appears to deviate from the interview.’
And Dean Easthope, defending, said: “My submission would be that this can be dealt with by way of being a lesser role, despite what he says in his interview.
“He lost his job in the first lockdown and couldn’t find another one.
“He was approached by somebody initially to hold the drugs, and then was asked ‘can you do this little deal here and this little deal there?’
“He was deliberately targeted and seen as expendable.
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Hide Ad“He says he was brought to Leamington and told what to do. He was expecting to be paid a minimum wage. The money he took was to go back to the person who gave him the drugs.”
Mr Easthope said Boateng came from a law-abiding family and was now in full-time education at college as well as working a night shift at a warehouse.
Sentencing Boateng, Recorder Rachel Brand QC told him: “Getting involved in dealing class A drugs is a very serious business. It’s not something you can just turn to casually if you have lost your job or you’re not getting enough shifts.
“Make no mistake, people go to jail for this sort of thing, and for a long time.
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Hide Ad“To those people who got you involved in this drug-dealing, you are utterly expendable. You’re disposable, just like when you finish your drink you throw away the bottle, if you go to jail they just find another fool to take your place.
“Only a custodial sentence is appropriate. The only question is whether it should be immediate or suspended – and I am just, but only just, persuaded that I can suspend it.”