Dealer caught when the police mistook him for wanted man

DRUG USE HAS ‘BLIGHTED HIS LIFE’

POLICE searching for a wanted man stumbled on a cannabis dealer who had been selling the drug across the streets of Derby for five months.

Aaron Barker was seen in Derby city centre on November 3, 2020, at the wheel of a blue Audi A3 and was searched after police believed – wrongly – he was wanted for another offence.

But police then became suspicious of Barker, 32, and a search later found cannabis in his pocket.

A search of his home on Uttoxeter New Road uncovered drug paraphernalia such as bags and cannabis weighing 8.5 grammes, with a value of up to £130.

He later pleaded guilty to supplying cannabis between May and November 2020 and possession with intent to supply cannabis.

Amy Earnshaw, prosecuting, told Derby Crown Court that analysis of Barker’s phone revealed several references to “double lemonade”, “tangerine dream”, “cherry skittles” and “lemon haze” – all forms of cannabis which Barker was supplying to friends and their associates.

Barker, who has seven convictions for 14 offences prior to sentencing, gave no comment at interview and had previously been convicted of possession of class A and C drugs in 2016.

William Bennett, defending, said his client was “not a very efficient drug dealer” and had now picked up a parttime job as he tried to move on with his life.

He said: “Aaron Barker got in with the wrong crowd when he was young. He started using quite a lot of cannabis at that time and he then moved into Class A drugs, in particular heroin.

“It has blighted his life. He has a cannabis habit that he cannot afford.

“He was street dealing, I make no bones about it.”

Judge Jonathan Bennett, sentencing, said: “It is a sentence that I can suspend.

“You have been selling [drugs] to friends and other people who friends put you in contact with, that is clear from the messages. You were making money out of it.

“I note the efforts you are making to deal with the cannabis problem.”

Barker was given a 10-month sentence suspended for 12 months, a curfew between 8.30pm and 6am every night for six months and 10 rehabilitation activity requirement days.