Wannabe Drug Dealer Who Turned To Crime To Pay Off Debt Caught By Police On First Day

Rudy Young, from Blackpool, Lancashire, is a drug was working as a scrap metal merchant but after his marriage fell apart, he developed a cocaine addiction.

The drug dealer has now been caught by the police on his first day at the job.

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Young's cocaine addiction turned out to be an expensive habit for him and he racked up a huge debt. To pay back, the 35-year-old resorted to dealing as a means of bringing in funds.

But on 20 January 2021 police spotted a pedestrian leaning through Young's car window and they searched the vehicle.

Inside, they found a number of snap bags containing white powder, two mobile phones and $547 cash, as well as text messages on one of the phones relating to drug dealing activity, Claire Larton, prosecuting, told Preston Crown Court.

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Julie Taylor, defending, said Young had been a recreational cocaine user until the end of his 16-year marriage, at which point he began using more of the drug as a way to cope.

Young was covered in debt and was getting threats due to this. He was worried and scared of facing repercussions from his family and business and so he agreed to sell drugs to clear his debts and was given a mobile phone to take orders.

"He wasn't very successful," Taylor said. "He got caught on the very first day."

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Young then pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply Class A drugs. The court heard he has no previous convictions and only two cautions.

Judge Simon Medland QC, sentencing, said: "You are plainly a resourceful person because you set up your own business as a licensed scrap metal merchant. You have a relationship and you want to do well in the world.

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"Your problem arose inevitably because you began to take cocaine, which is a destructive, an addictive and an expensive substance.

"Those who take it inevitably can't afford it, and you end up being trapped up in a cycle of your own causing, where you are brought into contact with those who are serious criminals who want you to do their work.

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"My message that Class A drugs destroy people's lives is one I am sure you agree with. They destroy people's health and wellbeing, they destroy people's social stability. All those things they have done to you."

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The judge told the court that Young had no previous convictions and had already faced a lengthy delay in the case getting to the court and so the case crossed the custody threshold.

Young also spent time on an electronically monitored curfew and co-operated with the Probation Service to prepare a pre-sentence report.

Judge Medland QC handed Young a two-year sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered him to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.

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