Drug dealer caught hiding crack cocaine in second pair of trousers in Portsmouth

Tijan Sarr, 21 of Leyburn Road, Edmonton, London, who pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply

Dealer admitted possessing heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply

21-year-old was hiding drugs in second pair of trousers he was wearing and in a jumper

He wrote a letter to the judge apologising for his actions

Tijan Sarr was approached by police as he sat in a Ford Focus with two other men in Ocean Park, Burrfields Road, in Copnor.

He was taking all of the risk for those who were getting him to do this Matthew Jewell

Prosecutor Timothy Akers told Portsmouth Crown Court: ‘Mr Sarr was wearing two pairs of trousers.

‘In the inner pair of the trouser’s left hand pocket were 56 wraps of crack cocaine, weighing 12.24g at 34 per cent purity.

‘These drugs were considered by the police expert to have a street value of £1,120.’

He added £325 in cash was retrieved from the glove box and seized.

When Sarr, 21, was arrested and brought into custody, police found 120 wraps of heroin in his jumper.

Those drugs had a total weight of 27.1g at 46 per cent purity.

Mr Akers said the street value of those drugs were £2,400. He added Sarr played a significant role and must have been motivated by financial advantage.

Sarr, of Leyburn Road, Edmonton, London, pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply.

He was arrested on March 4 at around 4.15pm.

Matthew Jewell, defending, said Sarr was ‘right at the bottom’ of the supply chain.

He added: ‘He was taking all of the risk for those who were getting him to do this.’

Sarr had initially pleaded not guilty in crown court at an earlier hearing, but almost immediately told his solicitor he wanted to admit the offences.

Jailing Sarr for two years, Recorder Nicholas Atkinson QC said: ‘You know that a sentence of imprisonment is inevitable.’

He added: ‘There’s a significant number of years in a life of your length that you’ve kept out of trouble.

‘You say that you’re sorry, that you were acting out of character.’

Sarr must pay a £100 victim surcharge. Mr Atkinson ordered the drugs be forfeited.

It was not revealed in court what happened to the other two men.

Sarr had been charged with a conspiracy offence, but the prosecution offered no evidence for this and a not guilty verdict was entered.