'I was forced to do drugs by criminals to pay off the debt', says this Derby dealer

A drug dealer has been jailed for two years and three months as his claim that he was forced into the crime did not convince Derby Crown Court into suspending his sentence.

Cannabis and cocaine were found in two cars belonging to Mohammed Hussain who later pleaded guilty to possession of the illegal substances with intent to supply them.

Prosecutor David Allan said police spotted a known drug user getting into Hussain’s white Ford Focus in Normanton in March this year and the defendant was arrested a week later.

“A search discovered a number of exhibits including two one-ounce bags of cannabis, two half-ounce bags of cannabis and a two-gram bag of cocaine capable of producing 20 wraps. There were keys to a second car, a black Hyundai, and in that was more cocaine, including some of the high purity, and 29 bags of cannabis,” the prosecutor said.

Experts valued the seized items between £2,300 and £3,300.

Arguing in the case, Will Bennett said Hussain had sold a car to "a ruthless criminal" and that Hussain introduced that man to one of his friends who ripped off the former. "It got nasty", he said.

"Men in balaclavas knocked on his door, he was taken for a drive and he left the car with a beating. They told him the debt was now his and to pay off the debt he would have to deal drugs for them,” Bennett said.

The court heard that Hussain, 32, has to take care of his mother who speaks little English and relies on him.

Responding to the pleas to suspend his jail term, recorder Penelope Stanistreet-Keen said: "It is clear that even under pressure you were part of an operation which was quite a sophisticated set-up. But I am afraid that even with your personal circumstances and your other mitigation, I am not able to suspend it (the sentence)."