Preston teenage drug dealer with 22 previous offences jailed for possession and intent too supply heroin and crack cocaine

Joel Bowden, who was said to have played a significant role in the organisation, ordered consignments of heroin and crack cocaine from Merseyside bosses and sold them from his flat in Fylde Road.

The court was told the 18-year-old had set up a base for the business in a house of multiple occupation, not far from the University Quarter of the city. But it was his fellow residents who blew the whistle on him when they saw what he was up to.

Police were called and officers discovered a haul of £1,500 in cash on his bed, two mobile phones and a set of digital scales. There was also a notepad which contained the names and phone numbers of people he supplied drugs to.

Lisa Worsley, prosecuting, said no drugs were found in the flat. But police suspected Bowden had "secreted" them in his body and he later passed two bundles containing 39 wraps at the police station. Examination of the mobiles found one - an old Nokia "burner" phone - had been used for sending block messages to users alerting them there were supplies of drugs for sale.

At the time of his arrest officers also seized a large "Zombie-style" knife in a sheath and a kitchen knife, but Miss Worsley said he had not been charged over the weapons. Jailing him for three years, Recorder Michelle Brown heard Bowden, from The Wirral, had an "appalling" criminal record totalling 22 previous offences. The first time he was convicted of a drugs crime was when he was "14 going on 15." His most recent was for possession of crack cocaine in December last year.

The prosecution claimed he had an "operational role" in the County Lines gang, calling in supplies of Class A drugs to Preston and selling them on. The block text messages found on his burner phone were, said Miss Worsley, "indicative of the scale of his dealing."

Zareen Alam-Cheetham, representing Bowden, said the teenager, who admitted two charges of possession with intent to supply, had been addicted to cannabis and ran up a debt of around £2,000. She added that as a result he "felt compelled to take part in the offending."

"He fully accepts his offending," she said. She described his record as an "appalling" history of crime for someone of his age. "He knows this and he is not proud of it. It may be that he was being taken advantage of. He found himself in a situation where he couldn't get out of it because of a £2,000 debt. His addiction has landed him in court having served six months so far (on remand).

"While in prison he has remained drug-free and wants to continue. He doesn't want to continue a life in and out of custody. He tells me he was involved because he wanted to repay a debt. He may not have understood the scale of the role he was involved in."

But Miss Record Brown dismissed that assertion saying: "He was fully aware of what he was doing. I am satisfied that your role was not just a dealer, your role was somewhat more serious. You did play a significant role. You were the one calling in the drugs (from Merseyside to Preston) and you were receiving the drugs."

Sentencing him to three years on each of two counts of possessing drugs with intent to supply - to run concurrently - she said that had he been older he would have received a longer sentence.

"It is sad to see someone so young with such an extensive criminal background. I hope you will take this opportunity while you are in prison to better yourself and get yourself qualifications. You don't really want to spend your life in and out of prison. You are young enough when you come out of prison to make the most of the life ahead of you."

She ordered the drugs and the knives to be destroyed.