A drug dealer who was back to his old ways immediately after being released from prison is now back behind bars.
Leighton Finn-Gibbs was selling crack cocaine to clear his drug debt and fund his own addiction straight after his sentence came to an end.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the 20-year-old was arrested after a police raid was carried out at an address on Wellesley Road, Middlesbrough, on December 30, last year.
Rachel Butt, prosecuting, said Finn-Gibbs told police that he was working under the instruction of others when he started dealing drugs again.
She said: “A bag was found in the living room which contained 20 grip-seal bags of crack cocaine with a street value of £200.
“A drugs expert confirmed that it was packaged in such a way consistent with street-level dealing.”
Police recovered a mobile phone connected to the defendant which contained a significant number of messages on the phone consistent with the supply of class A drugs including attempts to recruit people to work in the supply of drugs.
Finn-Gibbs, of Selkirk Close, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply crack cocaine between December 22 and 31 last year.
Nick Ayres, mitigating, said his client had been addicted to cocaine since the age of 13 and was expecting another custodial sentence.
He added: “This is a cycle he hasn’t been able to break because he falls back into the drugs trade because he owes a debt.
“He has an addiction and he finds himself back where it all started.”
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Judge Timothy Stead sentenced Finn-Gibbs to 18 months in prison for his latest offending.
He said: “You served a sentence and when you were released, you almost immediately started committing offences of a similar nature.”
Speaking after the hearing, Middlesbrough Proactive Team Sergeant John Sproson, of Cleveland Police, said: “Leighton Finn-Gibbs has again been found to be involved in drugs supply across Middlesbrough.
"We continue to tackle those bringing drugs onto the streets of the town, we will persist with putting those before the courts who put people at risk for their own criminal gain.”
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