A Leeds drug dealer was turned in by his own mum who answered the door to police and pointed them to a bag of class As.
Brendan Marshall, 30, has been jailed for three offences of possession with intent to supply after being caught out when officers were shown into his home by his mother. West Yorkshire Police were executing a search warrant in Woodbridge Garth in Kirkstall in April 2020 when they were shown to the bag of drugs.
Prosecutor Bashir Ahmed told Leeds Crown Court on Friday: "His mum was present and showed the police in. Unprompted she showed the police officers a bag in the living room and said that it contained crack cocaine. The bag was seized and she was arrested and interviewed. She accepted telling the police the bag contained drugs but she said it had been left by some dangerous people who she was afraid of, hence she refused to name them."
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The bag was found to contain drugs - later anaylsed and discovered to be crack cocaine which would have attracted a sum of almost £12,000. It also contained drug paraphernalia including weighing scales and dealer lists.
On March 11, 2021, police then executed a search warrant at an address in Recreation Mount in Holbeck. Again, Marshall's mother answered the door.
Mr Ahmed said: "She told them her son wasn't there. Officers did a check of the premises and found a large clear bag filled with cannabis with a number of joints." He said the drugs had a value of around £2,720. A bag of cocaine with a value of around £100 was also found alongside two scales, cannabis grinders and an iPhone.
The prosecutor said: "Again she [Marshall's mum] was arrested and this time she said she knew nothing about the items seized and they must have been the defendants'. He was arrested and interviewed and said the cannabis was his but was for personal use and he bought cannabis in bulk and was a user."
The court was told Marshall's fingerprints were found on items in the first raid, which he told officers he could not account for and "maintained it was nothing to do with him."
He pleaded not guilty to the charges at a plea, trial and preparation hearing but pleaded guilty in January this year.
Mitigating, Anthony Sugare said the dad was not working at the time of the offences and had got himself involved with criminal activity. He said: "He was spending around £25 to £50 per day on his cannabis addiction. He no longer is. He has continued with his employment all of the way through this process and has continued working.
"I hope that shows in some respect he has turned over a new leaf/ He has developed a relationship with his girlfriend and it is a very strong one He is a respectable young man working hard and putting everything else behind him."
His Honour Judge Clark jailed Marshall for three years and nine months for his offending.
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