Drug dealer jailed after cops flush out his stash of drugs in South Molton

A drug dealer who tried to flush away his stock of heroin and cocaine has been jailed after police retrieved it from the drains.

Stuart Bell, 25, was sent to Devon by Manchester drug dealers to act as their local agent and caught when police raided a house in South Molton where he was operating.

He tried to get rid of the evidence but police spotted what he was doing and retrieved £3,200 worth of drugs from and toilet bowl and drains, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Bell, from Sale, Cheshire, who was operating out of King Street, South Molton, admitted possession of cocaine and heroin with intent to supply and was jailed for 42 months.

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Judge Erik Salomonsen told him:”You were dealing in drugs. You were above the street level but dealing to the street. You are not a man of good character and have convictions for similar offences in the past.

“In my view someone who has these amounts of class A drugs can only be said to have a significant role.

“I accept you were a drug user and may have been under some pressure and coercion from those above you in the chain.”

Mr David Bowen, prosecuting, said police raided the flat in South Molton, where Bell was staying in November and found scales, bags, and other evidence of dealing.

He said:”Bell endeavoured to dispose of the drugs in the toilet and police tried to stop him. Two substantial quantities were recovered, one from the toilet itself and the other in the drain outside.

“The cocaine weighed a total of 12.02 grams and was worth £1,200 at street values and the heroin, which was divided into 30 bags, weighed 19.735 grams with a street value of £2,000.”

Mr Gareth Evans, defending, said Bell was a heroin user who was reluctant to admit his habit to police because he thought it was dirty and embarrassing.

He said he was bullied into selling the drugs on behalf of bigger dealers to whom he owed £5,000 and at the time of his arrest was living in a car and operating out of other people’s homes.