Lancashire drug dealer who showed ‘genuine remorse’ avoids prison | Preston Crown Court
Reporting from Preston Crown Court: Lancashire drug dealer who showed ‘genuine remorse’ avoid prison.
A judge stepped back from sending a drug dealer to prison after hearing he had turned his back on the murky world of narcotics.
Shezan Razaq told Preston Crown Court he had severed contact with the gang he worked for and surrounded himself now with honest, law-abiding friends.
The 32-year-old had pleaded guilty to possessing both heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply – both of which could have carried sentences of more than four years in jail. But Recorder Kristian Cavanagh decided to give him a chance and passed a three-year prison sentence suspended for 18 months.
The court heard Razaq, of Thirlmere Close, Blackburn, was driving in the town when he was pulled over by police in the early hours of January 22 last year. They suspected the vehicle it was involved in drug dealing and searched both Razaq and the car. They discovered amounts of both Class A drugs in a compartment of the centre console, together with two phones – one an iPhone and the other a Nokia “burner” phone – and also more than £300 in cash.
When the devices were examined they contained messages which suggested Razaq was involved in the supply of drugs. They also indicated that Razaq was heavily in debt from gambling and was working for the drug gang to help pay off what he owed.
Barrister Kira Unsworth, representing Razaq, said her client had “genuine remorse” for what he had done and now realised the impact that drugs had on the community.
“He was under financial pressure due to a gambling addiction,” she told the judge. He had fallen into a significant amount of debt and had agreed to deal drugs to pay off what he owed.
She added Razaq had shown in the past that he could refrain from criminality and had made good progress in the 18 months since his arrest.
He had been working hard to turn his life around and had broken off contact with the people involved in drugs.
“He has taken steps to address his behaviour by removing himself from that environment. He wants to change his lifestyle so he doesn’t find himself in the same situation again.”
Recorder Cavanagh said the discovery of drugs, cash and phones in his car showed he had been supplying. He was also in a significant amount of debt.
But his efforts to turn his back on the drugs business meant he was now at a low risk of re-offending.
“You are sorry for the commission of these offences and you have worked hard to put it behind you.”
In addition to the three-year prison sentence suspended for 18 months the judge also ordered Razaq to complete 250 hours of unpaid work in the community and also attend 25 rehabilitation activity days.
He told him: “You have been very fortunate because the steps you have taken in the last 18 months to sort yourself out have given me this opportunity (to suspend the sentence).”