Police raid suburban Leeds home and find thousands in cash and drugs
Police raided a property on a suburban Leeds street, recovering thousands of pounds in cash and drugs worth even more.
Daniel Wooffitt and Kai Nelson both escaped an immediate jail sentence at Leeds Crown Court this week.
Acting on a tip-off, police targeted the home of Wooffitt on Ingleton Drive, Halton, around lunchtime on October 18, 2023.
They found Wooffitt and Nelson in the living room of the house and quickly arrested them, prosecutor Katy Welford told the court.
Cannabis worth up to £13,000 was found strewn around the house. Nelson was found to have more than £4,700 in cash on him.
During their police interview, 35-year-old Wooffitt tried to claim the drugs were for personal use.
Nelson, 27, of Bowland Close, Halton, gave a prepared statement claiming there would be no forensic link found between him and the drugs.
He also said the money was to be used to buy a dog.
But mobile phones seized from the property showed Nelson was involved in the buying and selling of drugs.
They both later admitted dealing in cannabis, with Nelson also admitting having criminal property - the cash.
Neither had any previous convictions.
A probation report into Wooffitt said he had been struggling for money at the time and had to look after his father who has dementia.
Wooffitt said he used cannabis as a coping mechanism but had since stopped and had now set up a plumbing and home maintenance business.
A probation report into Nelson found that he too had quit using cannabis and was now employed as a barber.
Judge Howard Crowson acknowledged that both defendants had no previous convictions, that it had been almost two years since the raid and that both had turned their lives around since.
He gave them each a two-year community order with 120 hours of unpaid work to complete, along with 10 rehabilitation days with probation.