A DRUG dealer caught twice in a month with hundreds of pounds worth of cannabis and crack cocaine has finally been jailed.
Amrin Haig was already serving a two-year suspended sentence for similar offences when he was found with cache of weapon, drugs, and cash in 2020.
The crack cocaine addict was arrested in November and December last year when police spotted him acting suspiciously, Teesside Crown Court heard.
Shaun Dryden, prosecuting, said the 22-year-old was caught with cannabis and cocaine when he was arrested on Longlands Industrial Estate in Middlesbrough after he was spotted driving erratically.
A search recovered £790 worth of cocaine, cannabis and £300 in cash from the defendant when he was arrested on November 19.
The defendant initially claimed that the cannabis was for his own personal use and he didn’t sell the cocaine.
Haig was then arrested again on December 16 following a foot chase through Middlesbrough town centre after police spotted him in the front seat of a Seat Leon before attempting to flee.
“Police found a bag containing white powder, he had four mobile phones in his possession and also just over £97 in cash,” Mr Dryden said.
“The police retraced his steps in the course of the foot pursuit and they found a bag of cannabis near a metal fence and a knuckleduster was also recovered.
“When he got to the police station he was strip searched and a total of 151 grip seal bags of crack cocaine was recovered from his boxer shorts – the street value was £1,510.”
Officers then searched an address on Clarendon Road, Middlesbrough, and recovered cannabis bush, scales, and grip seal bags.
In police interview, Haig admitted using the house to smoke crack cocaine but maintained at least 30 people had a key for the property.
Haig, of Crathorne Crescent, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to charges of possession with intent to supply Class A and Class B drugs, possession of a knuckleduster and breach of a suspended sentence order.
Nigel Soppitt, in mitigation, said his client has a longstanding problem with drug addiction and was selling the drugs under duress to pay for his own habit.
“The reason this defendant offends is because he was hopelessly addicted to crack cocaine at this point in his life,” he said.
“He felt like he was compelled to sell drugs by others to maintain his habit. At one point he was using £400 worth of crack cocaine, each and every day.”
Judge Paul Watson QC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, sentenced Haig to a total of three years and ten months for all offences.
He said: “We have a previous conviction in 2020 for almost identical offences, you were the subject of a suspended sentence at the time of these offences and that puts you in breach – that was a sentence of two years in prison.
“Here you were on November 19 and then again on December 16, while you were on bail, back in business. You were dealing in Class A and Class B drugs.”
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