Chesterfield teen caught with £4,500 of drugs in his flat spared prison

Jake Joule was arrested after police visited the accommodation he was staying at after his father kicked him out on October 2, 2019, Derby Crown Court was told on Tuesday, December 22.

Officers discovered 38.15g of cocaine in his room, with a further 9.1g of the drug in his fridge, with a total street value of approximately £2,000.

They also found around 65g of cannabis, with a street value of around £2,600, along with bags and £440 in cash.

But the court heard that Joule, 19, now of Lancaster Road, Chesterfield, was not actively dealing the drugs, but was holding them for a wider drugs operation to pay off a debt to dealers.

Prosecuting, Gareth Gimson told the court: “We can’t say that there were any drugs contacts in his mobile phone and the financial investigator concluded that there was no hidden money. He answered no comment in interview to all questions put to him.

The teenager admitted possession with intent to supply Class A and Class B drugs at an earlier hearing, the court heard.

Mitigating, Mark Sharman said: “Many people come before this court in these circumstances and say the drugs were for personal use and he’s not chosen to do that.

“This was in sheltered accommodation because he had experienced a breakdown in the relationship with his father and he accepts that the breakdown was because of his own bad behaviour.

“He was not working, he was in receipt of benefits and accumulated a significant drugs debt and that is how dealers keep people on the hook.

“He had been threatened and felt that he had no choice but to hold the drugs and drug paraphernalia on their behalf.

“With the assistance of his father, he has paid back £3,000 to those people, and some £2,000 of that was paid back after his arrest. This was not his operation.

“He’s made dramatic changes to his life since these matters came to light - he has repaired the relationship with his father to a very significant degree. With his behaviour his father felt he had no alternative but to ask him to leave, but things have turned themselves around to such a degree that his father now reports a very positive relationship with his son.”

Recorder Mark Watson sentenced Joule to two years in custody but suspended the sentence for two years.

He also ordered him to complete 15 rehabilitation activity days with the Probation Service and to complete 100 hours of unpaid work in the community.

He also ordered that the cash discovered be forfeited and the drugs and paraphernalia be forfeited and destroyed.

Sentencing, he told Joule: “You have come within a hair’s breadth of being sent to prison today, and the only thing stopping you from going through that door [indicating to the cells] and spending Christmas and maybe next Christmas in prison is because you have reconciled with your father. You have an awful lot to thank your father for.”

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