Derbyshire cannabis dealer was caught with drugs while cops hunted for someone else

Connor Newell was arrested at an address in Nottingham along with Leah Jackson, on January 6, 2022, when mass-marketing messages on his phone showed he’d been supplying drugs since the previous August 2021.

Recorder Penelope Stanistreet-Keen told Newell: "Police weren't looking for you but found a large amount of cannabis. You were heavily involved in the supply of cannabis. Technically this is a significant role but you weren't anywhere near the top of the chain."

The judge told Jackson, who was involved in supplying drugs for two months: "You found yourself in a property where the police were looking for a drug dealer. It may be that the police being there was the best thing that could have happened to you."

Matthew Smith, mitigating, said Newell deserved credit for his guilty plea and argued against sending him to custody straight away because he had clearly faced difficulties in his life. Newell has committed no further offences since, he said, and the offences are of some age.

Barrister Andrew Wesley said any money Jackson made "was likely to go back into her own cannabis use," but she has been clean of the drug for 18 months.

He said she has abandoned her old friends, obtained qualifications and plans to start her own business.

"It is unfortunate that she has put her life on hold while waiting for the outcome of this,” Mr Wesley said. “The hope on her behalf is she can remain in the community. She has demonstrated a wish to rehabilitate herself.”

Newell, now aged 23, of Awsworth Road, Ilkeston, and Jackson, aged 24, of Flatts Lane, Calverton, admitted supplying a drug of class B at am earlier hearing.

On Wednesday, Newell received a 48 week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, with 200 hours of unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation days.

Jackson received a nine month sentence, suspended for 12 months, with 200 hours of unpaid work and nine rehabilitation days.