A man struggling to find work turned to dealing drugs on the streets in part to help his mum with the bills.
Botley man Frederick Njoroge, 21, was caught by a pair of police officers with heroin and crack cocaine on Padbury Drive, Banbury, on April 23 last year.
Their attention was drawn to him as he was acting ‘suspiciously’, prosecutor Julian Lynch told Oxford Crown Court on Monday morning.
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When he was stopped, the officers found nine wraps of heroin and five wraps of crack cocaine as well as £110 in cash.
His home was raided and a further 6.84g of heroin discovered along with a set of scales containing traces of cocaine and cannabis. In addition, the police found £400 in cash.
Giving him two years’ imprisonment suspended for two years, Judge Nigel Daly said: “I don’t know what to make of you, really. You don’t have much in the way of previous convictions and here you are selling crack cocaine and heroin on the streets.
“You don’t seem to be terribly involved with other people. This isn’t a case where there is a County Line or anything like that.
“You appear to be involved off your own bat. You seem to suggest to the maker of the pre-sentence report this all came about because there were some problems at home and you wanted to get some money and you were unable to get a job so you decided to start selling class A drugs.”
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Mitigating, Nawaz Khan said his client had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
“This was a low level operation, not a sophisticated one, of a young man who has got involved essentially with the wrong kind of people after using cannabis since his college days,” he said.
“He’s partly supporting his own habits, he is paying some money to his family and making a little money to support himself.”
Njoroge had demonstrated a ‘lack of judgement’ by turning to drug dealing, Mr Khan told the court. He had registered with various employment agencies but had been unsuccessful in finding much work.
Njoroge, of Osney Lane, Botley, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply class A drugs. He had one previous conviction.
As part of the suspended sentence, the defendant must complete a three-month curfew, up to 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 36 hours at a senior attendance centre.
Judge Daly ordered that the drugs and paraphernalia seized from the house should be destroyed. The cash was forfeit and will be kept by the police.
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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.
To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk
Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward
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