Wolverhampton drugs courier spared custody for his 'own good'

Andre Stephenson was carrying more than £1,000 worth of heroin and cocaine wrapped up in street deals when he saw a police patrol while driving through Wolverhampton – and panicked, the city's crown court heard.

The 20-year-old, who had been paid £40 to move the stash of drugs, immediately attracted the attention of the officers when he suddenly accelerated away in the red Skoda hire car down Evans Street, Whitmore Reans, at around 11am on June 11, said Mr Ian Windridge, prosecuting.

Stephenson was chased and abandoned the car in a nearby cul-de-sac where he was seen to throw away a package – later discovered to contain 58 wraps of heroin and 55 of cocaine with a total value of £1,130 – and was quickly caught after attempting to flee on foot.

No evidence of drug dealing was found on his mobile phone, said Mr Anthony Bell, defending, who continued: "He is a hard-working, well-liked young man for whom this was completely out of character.

"He was simply a courier, has blemished his record and embarrassed his family. He is a young man with his life ahead of him and deserves a chance to show that this really was a one-off."

Stephenson, from Crosby Close, Whitmore Reans, admitted drug dealing and was given 16 months detention in a Young Offenders 'Institution suspended for two years with a three-month night-time curfew, 120 hours' unpaid work, 12-month driving ban and £530 costs.

Recorder Benjamin Nicholls told him: "It is clear from the large number of references that I have received that those who know you well have not got a bad word to say about you.

"If I sent you to immediate detention you would be associating with more sophisticated criminals and your life may take a wrong turning rather than going in the right way."