COURT: Harrogate drug dealer jailed for three years

A 48-year-old drug dealer caught with £220 worth of heroin has been jailed for three years.

Hutton, who was in a car, was found with a foil wrap containing 6.79g of heroin with a street value of £220.

A search of his home also revealed a stash of cannabis and diazepam, York Crown Court heard.

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Hutton admitted possessing heroin with intent to supply on July 8 last year. He also pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis and diazepam tablets.

At the sentence hearing on Friday, prosecutor Graham O’Sullivan said that Hutton had nearly 300 offences on his record spanning more than 30 years.

These included convictions for driving offences, burglary, cannabis production and, more pertinently, possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply, for which he was given a three-year jail sentence in 2006.

Barrister Glen Parsons, for Hutton, conceded that his client had a “very bad record indeed”.

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Appealing to Judge Guy Kearl QC to impose a minimal jail sentence, Mr Parsons said Hutton had only ever dealt drugs to people in his social circle.

He added that at the height of Hutton’s criminal activities, he had been sofa-surfing while in the grip of a “pernicious” drug addiction.

Mr Parsons said that a long jail sentence would be “crushing” for Hutton given his health problems and the efforts he had made to turn his life around.

Mr Kearl accepted that Hutton had been dealing on a social basis, but said his criminal record was prolific. Hutton will serve half of the three-year jail term.

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