A COUNTY lines dealer who brought drugs to sell in Rugby town centre was caught with more than £500 worth of heroin and crack cocaine.
And at Devon Bailey’s home officers found the £1,500 proceeds of his previous week’s street dealing, a judge at Warwick Crown Court has heard.
Bailey, 21, of Gray Street, Northampton, was jailed for three years and four months after pleading guilty to possessing heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply them and possessing criminal property.
And he was given a further six months, taking his total sentence to three years and ten months, for possessing a knife in public, which he also admitted.
Prosecutor John Brotherton said the police saw Bailey in North Street at lunchtime on September 30 and realised he was linked to a BMW car which was ‘of interest.’
The car was found in a nearby car park, and Bailey was tracked to the Rugby Central shopping centre.
After he was arrested, officers found he had 56 wraps of heroin and crack cocaine, £100 in cash and a hunting knife, and found £1,505 in cash at his home.
Mr Brotherton added Bailey had a previous conviction for possessing a knife, and in 2015 had been sentenced to four years detention for wounding with intent.
Matthew Hodgetts, defending, said Bailey had written to Judge Anthony Potter expressing remorse and giving insight into his problems.
“He says he feels like a prisoner in his own mind. He’s a young man with a lack of self-esteem, despite being an articulate and quite bright young man.”
Mr Hodgetts said Bailey had been trying to deal with his problems by ‘self-medicating’, and having been allowed to have drugs on credit, he found himself in debt and was told to sell drugs in Rugby to pay it off – which is where the cash at his home was destined to go.
And Mr Hodgetts added Bailey had the knife on him because of ‘the fear of being jumped’ for the drugs.
Jailing Bailey, Judge Potter told him: “Crack cocaine and heroin destroy lives, and you have played your part in causing real pain and suffering to people in Rugby.
“You had a weapon you could produce, and which could have led to someone being wounded, or worse.
“Knife crime is endemic and young men of your age are being stabbed on a regular basis.
“I am prepared to accept you were placed under some pressure, but equally you were being trusted with a large amount of drugs and a large amount of money,” said the judge, who ordered that the £1,605 be confiscated under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
After the trial, Warwickshire Police said its Rugby Offender Management Unit (ROMU) found evidence Bailey was travelling from Northampton to Rugby on an almost daily basis.
Det Cons Rob Garrison said: “I hope this sentencing sends a strong message to other county lines drug dealers who think they can come to Warwickshire to deal drugs on our streets that we are waiting for you.”
