Teen Leeds dealer thought drug riches were 'too good to pass up'
A teenager dealt in deadly heroin and cocaine because the money was “too good to pass up”, a court was told.
Edward Rogers initially tried to claim the 30-plus individual wraps on him were for personal use, but doubts were raised when he tested negative for both drugs.
Appearing at Leeds Crown Court, he admitted two counts of dealing in Class A drugs, but only changed his pleas to guilty on the day he was due to stand trial.
The court heard that Rogers, who was 18 at the time, was stopped and searched in Leeds on June 9, 2022, after an officer noticed a large amount of cash in his bag.
Over £890 was recovered along with an iPhone.
Rogers, of Rossefield Terrace, Bramley, was searched at the police station and the wraps of drugs were found in his trousers. The total value of the drugs came to around £310.
The iPhone contained messages about dealing and even a tick list of money owed from customers.
Now 20, he has no previous convictions.
Mitigating, Olivia Fraser said Rogers began selling drugs to pay off a debt incurred through his own cannabis use.
He was homeless at the time, “sofa surfing” at friends’ homes.
But she said he continued to trade, and added: “It was simply too good to pass up due to his desperation. He acknowledges what he did wrong.”
She said he failed to finish school due to Covid, but was keen to gain employment.
Judge Mushtaq Khokhar told Rogers: “You have never been in trouble before so it’s sad to see someone like you appearing for the first time before a crown court for such a serious offence.
“You were homeless and mixed with the wrong crowd. It’s a tale which one hears a lot of times.
“It was not simply a case of simply selling to pay off a debt, you carried on to make money.”
Taking into account his age and lack of previous convictions, he reduced his sentence and jailed him for 30 months.