Drug dealer caught after police see faulty car light
A drug dealer was caught after police pulled him over for having a broken rear light on his car, a court has heard.
Officers found cannabis in David Appleby's Peugeot and cocaine at his home after stopping him near the A19 on 23 January 2023, Teesside Crown Court heard.
Appleby, 26, admitted possessing class A and B drugs with intent to supply.
Jailing him for two years and eight months, judge Jonathan Carroll said Appleby "voluntarily and willingly" chose to deal drugs for financial gain.
The court heard police officers were on patrol when they saw a silver Peugeot with an inoperable rear light on the A19 near Norton, Stockton, at about 18:00 GMT.
They stopped the car on Billingham Road and found Appleby, of Lily Close in Stockton, driving.
Prosecutor Emma Atkinson said officers could smell cannabis and Appleby was slurring his speech but a drugs swab came back negative.
She said he had almost £1,000 in cash on him and pots of cannabis on his passenger seat, while cocaine worth up to £2,000 was found in his bedroom.
In mitigation, the court heard the father-of-one started dealing drugs to make money while unemployed but had since got a job for a waste handling firm.
Judge Carroll said he had seen "on a daily basis the serious harm drugs cause to individuals and society".
He said Appleby had "entered the drug trade, albeit at a relatively low level, knowingly and willingly for the purposes of making money".
The judge said: "It is not that you yourself are a drug addict selling drugs to support your own habit, that is a desperate situation some people find themselves in, it causes significant social harm but one can understand their compulsion even if one disapproves of it."
He also said Appleby was "not on any possible view a mere runner at the bottom of the tree acting on behalf of others" as messages were found on his phone showing him arranging and advertising deals for "top grade" drugs.
Follow BBC Tees on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk.
