A DRUG dealer was found to have over £1,000 worth of crack cocaine hidden between his buttocks when police stopped him after seeing him go to the Rugby homes of two known drug users.
Kevin Codner, who also had £270 in cash on him, pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to possessing the drug with intent to supply it.
Codner, 21, of Daisy Bank Road, Manchester, was jailed for two-and-a-half years.
Prosecutor Graeme Simpson said that on October 22 last year a police officer on patrol in Bridge Street saw Codner outside an off-licence.
He seemed nervous, and the officer thought she recognised him from a still image of two people dealing in drugs the previous week.
So, although she could not be sure it was definitely the same man, she radioed for assistance.
She then saw Codner being joined by a 16-year-old boy before the two of them went to a house in Victoria Street which was the home of a known drug-user.
They then went to a nearby address where another known user lived before going into an alleyway where they were detained.
The teenager, who has since had the case against him dropped after it was concluded that he had been the victim of modern slavery, tried to discard a mobile phone.
When he was searched, he had a list of names of known Rugby drug-users, £86 in cash and two plastic bags containing crack cocaine.
Codner had £270 in cash and two grip-seal bags, and when he was searched at the police station, officers found a golf ball-sized clingfilm wrap between his buttocks.
The wrap contained 11 grams of crack cocaine, which would have been worth around £1,100 once it had been divided into street deals, said Mr Simpson.
Richard English, for Codner, said he had no previous convictions, and had not committed any further offences in the last 12 months.
During that time, having spent a short period in custody – which had been ‘a particularly difficult experience’ – before being granted bail, he had been subject to a curfew.
Mr English said there was a pre-sentence report on Codner and a letter from his partner, who ‘relies heavily on this young man,’ and things would be ‘bleak’ for her and their child if he was sent to prison.
“He is a young man who was vulnerable to exploitation. He was not the person who was going to make massive profits.
“This is a man who is perfectly capable of leading a law-abiding life,” he added.
But Judge Barry Berlin commented: “I don’t know about exploited. He’s certainly in it for profit. It is clear, having gone to the first building and then the second, he is not someone who is simply being put upon by others.”
Jailing Codner, Judge Berlin told him: “You are 21 years of age and have no previous convictions, but people who deal in drugs must expect an immediate custodial sentence of some length.”
