Leicester man jailed after admitting intent to supply drugs

A 21-year-old man has been jailed following a targeted police operation in West Leicester.

Ashley Bates pleaded guilty at Leicester Crown Court yesterday (Monday 27 July) to:

• Two counts of possession with intent to supply class A drugs (namely heroin and crack cocaine)
• One count of possession with intent to supply class B drugs (namely cannabis)
• One count of possession of criminal property
• One count of assault of an emergency worker

He was sentenced to 40 months imprisonment.

Bates, of Tedworth Green, Leicester was arrested by police last month as part of proactive patrols, to tackle drug dealing in the neighbourhood policing area.

As part of these patrols, Bates was witnessed taking part in a suspected drugs exchange by officers. When officers attempted to detain him later that day, he made off from police.

As he was detained, he threw punches at the detaining officer, leaving one officer with a minor injury to his hand. When searched, he was found in possession of a quantity of heroin, crack cocaine and cannabis worth a street value of almost £3,500. He was found with £720 in cash. Further cannabis was located from his home address following a search post-arrest.

PC Jay Khunti, from the West Leicester Priority team, said: “The operation was specifically set up to tackle the ongoing issue around drug dealing, a crime which many communities are faced with.

“This conviction has demonstrated the benefits and positive results of team working on this operation by giving reassurance to our communities that the police are dealing with this type of issue and are prepared to work together as a team to produce these results.

“Our communities play a significant part in the information we receive around drug dealing and we encourage the public if you have information about criminal activity in your area please get in touch so we can act upon it and tackle those issues we know cause communities the most harm and concern.”

 

Ashley Bates