Teenager locked up after drugs raid on home
A teenager has been locked up for three years after heroin and crack cocaine worth thousands of pounds were found in a raid on his home.
Shane Bowater tried to escape through the back door when detectives swooped on the flat.
But he ran straight into the arms of a waiting policeman, a court heard.
Mr Peter Grice, prosecuting, said officers converged on High Street, Lye, on February 27 last year.
Bowater, who was just 17 at the time, fled out of the rear door of the property with a ‘manbag’ stuffed with Class A drugs and associated paraphernalia but was caught by a police officer and arrested.
Inside the bag were 16 packets of crack cocaine with a street value of £770 and 80 wraps of heroin worth £820.
Also found were an iphone with incriminating messages linking him to drug deals, £110 cash and a dealer’s list of names and numbers, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
A search of the living room revealed further evidence of criminal activity, including two digital scales, another dealer list and a mobile phone containing ‘relevant messages’, said Mr Grice.
More drugs – almost 15g of heroin and more than 8g of crack cocaine – were also discovered inside the property. In total, he was in possession of £2,300 worth of heroin, and crack cocaine worth £1,840.
Defending him, Ms Nicole Steers said Bowater confessed to using and selling cannabis previously – and claimed to have ‘found’ the heroin and crack cocaine.
“He knew of the hiding place and stole them,” she said. “He thought it was cannabis but on realising what it was, he proceeded to sell the wraps himself.”
She said Bowater had had to ‘fend for himself’ when he was put into care after the deaths of both his parents.
She described him as ‘vulnerable’ and added he did not set out to deal in Class A drugs.
The court heard he had previous convictions in the youth court for robberies and criminal damage. Bowater, now 18, of Highland Road, Dudley, admitted two charges of possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply others. He was sent to a young offender institution for three years.
Recorder Michelle Heeley QC said: “You have had a difficult life but this is not your first taste of court.”
