Darlington drug dealer sold cocaine to buy Christmas presents

Dale Frew waited for more than three years to learn his fate before eventually receiving a suspended sentence after admitting selling the Class A drug.

The 30-year-old was selling the drugs from his Darlington which he shared with his partner and children, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Elisha Marsay, prosecuting, said police recovered more than 50g of cocaine when they raided the property on Goodison Way on February 14, 2021.

The court heard how three one gram cocaine deals were recovered from the defendant along with some cannabis, a mobile phone and £665 in cash.

“The police searched the address and a JD Sports bag in the porch was found to contain 47.5g of white powder and a set of scales,” she said.

A forensic examination of Frew’s mobile phone revealed multiple messages containing references to drug deals.

Frew, of Roker Close, Darlington, pleaded guilty to possession of a Class A drug with intent to supply and possession of cannabis.

Ashleigh Leach, mitigating, said her client had turned to selling drugs in December 2020 in a desperate attempt to raise cash for Christmas presents.

“He sold cocaine to be able to support his family,” she said. “He started selling cocaine when he realised that he wasn’t able to buy Christmas presents for his children.

“He was living with his partner and children at the time and he says all he wanted to do was look after his family.”

Miss Leach said Frew sold drugs to his friends to enable him to buy the essentials and would stop when he had enough cash.

Judge Advocate Tom Mitchell dismissed the defendant’s excuse of using the profits from drug dealing to fund his Christmas shopping.

He said: “It doesn’t assist you to say that in dealing cocaine, you sought to make ends meet for your family.

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“These are hard times, there are thousands if not tens of thousands of families who are going through hard times and they don’t resort to the means you did to make ends meet.

“It’s no excuse or real mitigation for you to say that. You started dealing in December 2020 – no Christmas present is worth it.

“You should never resort to this to provide for your family.”

Frew was given a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work and contribute £306 towards court costs.