Cocaine and brawling were ‘panic’ reaction to a court summons

A YOUNG man who received a letter telling him he was being prosecuted for drug-dealing nearly 18 months earlier, reacted by going out – then taking drugs and fighting.

Police were called to a brawl Main Street, Broughton Astley, 10.30pm on February 8.

Elijah Dance was among those arrested and handed the police six in at wraps of cocaine he had in his pocket. Leicester Crown Court heard that, earlier in the day, the 22-yearold had received a court summons relating to an offence of drug-dealing he was alleged to have committed when he was 19.

When asked by the judge why Dance, who claimed to no longer take drugs, had been using cocaine and brawling, defence barrister Olivia Whitworth said his behaviour was a response to the letter.

“It was the panic of having received that postal requisition,” she said. “He reacted by making a poor decision.”

In the 2018 incident, Dance, of Laurel Road, Blaby, was seen squatting in a hedge at St Nicholas Circle, Leicester, on September 29.

Thinking he was daubing graffiti on a wall, police searched him.

They found 68 ecstasy tablets, which he told the officers he sold only to his friends, adding: “I barely make any money at all.”

He also had nearly 5g of ketamine and just under 2g of cocaine, as well as a phone with evidence of drugdealing contained in it.

But because of long delays in testing the drugs and getting testimony from an expert, Dance’s first court appearance for any of the offences was before Leicester magistrates on February 25 this year, when he admitted two counts of possessing class A drugs and possession with intent to supply class A and B drugs.

At the crown court hearing, Judge Ebrahim Mooncey told Dance he would normally be facing jail, but he had to consider the long delays in bringing the case to court.

“I’m told you completed your education, you’ve got a very good job, you’re earning and you have your family’s support,” he said.

The judge gave Dance a 15-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, and also ordered him to pay £320 court costs.