A teenage drug dealer was found in possession of £300 worth of cocaine after police smelled cannabis coming from a car he was travelling in. Messages on his phone revealed he was a street dealer selling cocaine and cannabis to customers.
Corey Sutton, 19, was the passenger of a car pulled over by police in Tonyrefail on April 28 and when the officers approached the car they noticed a strong smell of cannabis. The defendant asked the officers: “Do you want to see how much I’ve got?”
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Wednesday heard the defendant pulled out a plastic bag containing cannabis and a grinder. Don’t miss a court report by signing up to our crime newsletter here.
Prosecutor Anisha Rai said Sutton was detained and searched, which resulted in a mobile phone being seized from his trouser pocket. Officers also found a yellow Kinder egg which contained multiple ziplock bags of cocaine.
There were a total of 10 bags weighing 0.4g each which had a total value between £200 and £300. The defendant’s phone was examined and there were multiple messages indicating he was involved in the supply of cocaine and cannabis.
Sutton, of Bryngolau, Tonyrefail, later pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply class A drugs and being concerned in the supply of class A and B drugs. The court heard he has one previous conviction for an unrelated offence.
In mitigation, Harry Baker said his client had been remanded in custody since his arrest. The barrister said the defendant was a hard worker, had completed his qualifications, and had a lot of jobs but turned to dealing drugs after becoming unemployed. Mr Baker added: “We know the devil makes work for idle hands.”
Sentencing, Recorder Greg Bull KC said that offences involving the supply of drugs were “too serious” to be dealt with by anything other than an immediate custodial sentence. Sutton was sentenced to 28 months’ detention in a young offenders’ institute.
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