Former footballer turned drug dealer caught with 90% pure cocaine

Officers followed Dominic Hammond's white Vauxhall Vivaro panel van after seeing him swerve across the lanes of the A614, at 9.30am, on November 23, 2021.

Stuart Pattinson, prosecuting, said when Hammond stopped at a roundabout he was visibly shaking, with a mobile in his hand and a clear bag containing white powder on the dashboard.

The bag contained 5.78 grams of cocaine, with a very high, “import level” purity of 90 per cent which is “uncommon” for street-level dealing.

He had £510 cash in his pocket and just under 15g of cannabis was found at his home. Messages on his phone indicated he had been selling cocaine for “some weeks”.

Nottingham Crown Court heard he has six previous convictions for seven offences, and was fined for possessing cocaine in 2015.

Nine days after he was arrested at the roundabout, Hammond was caught driving while over the prescribed limit for cocaine.

Mr Pattinson said Hammond was able to “provide drugs on tick” and there was no evidence he was coerced into dealing.

Hammond, aged 30, of Breck Bank, Ollerton, admitted possession of cannabis and possession of cocaine with intent to supply.

Zarif Khan, mitigating, conceded the case crossed the custody threshold, but argued the sentence should be suspended.

“He is remorseful,” he said. “He is very honest as to how things came about. He originally started as a professional footballer but was injured out through no fault of his own.

“He went into a spiral after losing his job and falling out with his partner. He fell in with the wrong crowd. He was offered a way to support his own habit.”

Mr Khan said only four or five text messages referred to drugs and Hammond “wasn't a prolific supplier”. Custody would have a severe impact on his family, he added.

However, sentencing Judge John Sampson told Hammond: “Class A drugs ruin lives and blight communities and you were dealing in this misery, albeit in a limited way.”

Jailing him for 27 months, he said Hammond will serve up to half that time before he is released.

Serious crime

PC Koen Broers, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “The sentence handed out in this case should serve as a warning to anyone thinking of selling drugs on our streets.

“As Hammond found out to his cost, dealing drugs is an incredibly serious crime that has very real consequences, and we at Nottinghamshire Police simply won’t tolerate it in our communities.

“We know how much devastation drugs can cause – not just to people who take them but their loves ones too – which is precisely why we take all reports of drug activity so seriously and why anyone found guilty of selling them should expect a hefty sentence.”