Boughton cocaine dealer caught selling in Worksop warned he faces prison if he breaks the law again

Callum Stevenson was stopped by police while driving a silver Vauxhall Astra at around 5pm, on July 31, 2020, said prosecutor Stuart Pattinson.

A bag in the passenger footwell contained deal bags with 17 grammes of cocaine that had an estimated value of between £980 to £2,450.

Officers found £310 in cash in his wallet and two mobile phones in the driver's door pocket.

A range of messages were discovered, including mass marketing texts advertising two deals for £70 and three deals for £100, as well as texts saying “he was only getting a quarter of an ounce at a time for £500.”

Stevenson's fingerprints were found on one of the deal bags but he denied all knowledge of the drugs.

Nottingham Crown Court heard he has ten previous convictions for 15 offences.

Stevenson, aged 28, of Manvers View, Boughton, admitted possession with intent to supply class A drugs, at a previous hearing.

On Tuesday, Judge Stuart Rafferty told him: “You got yourself into a very dark place - you became the person that you feared the most: a supplier of drugs.”

He said Stevenson was dealing to pay off a drug debt while “the people who flood this country with drugs are making an obscene amount of money and they are seldom brought to justice.”

He said the offences took place in “distant times” and there were delays to the case being heard. Stevenson’s co-accused also became mentally ill.

“If you had been sentenced anywhere close to the commission of these offences you would have been sentenced to prison in all probability,” Judge Rafferty told him.

“If you were in a significant role - and the prosecution thinks there are signs of it - the starting point is four-and-a-half years.

"If you do this again, keep the figure of four-and-a-half years in your mind because that will be the starting point,” he said. “If you slip you will not get a second chance.”

Stevenson received a two-year prison sentence, suspended for 24 months, and a 18 month community order with 15 rehabilitation days.