Hunting knife in drug dealer’s crash vehicle
Man hit cyclist, car and minibus after stop by police
A COCAINE dealer caught armed with a hunting knife injured a cyclist as he drove away from police and crashed.
Salman Al Jerrari was stopped at the junction of Waverley Road and Lawrence Road in Southsea after he was spotted ‘driving very erratically’ around Portsmouth.
But Portsmouth Crown Court heard when officers approached his stopped Toyota Yaris at the junction traffic lights and showed a warrant card, he drove off.
Jerrari crashed into a woman who tried to leap off her bike when she saw him ‘bearing down’ on her, prosecutor Keith Hadrill said.
Undeterred after injuring the woman, he drove off ‘at some speed’ and then crashed into a Ford Mondeo and the St Simon’s Church minibus in Lowcay Road.
He tried to run away but was caught quickly. Officers seized a man bag and found 23 wraps of cocaine, a class A drug, worth £1,150 on the street – along with cannabis, a class B drug, worth £470.
A hunting knife was found in the driver’s door well. A Nokia mobile phone with drug dealing messages on it was also found.
Jerrari was charged and admitted possession with intent to supply class A and B, having a bladed article and dangerous driving.
The defendant first appeared in court on November 26. The next day, released on bail, he was stopped in Woolwich dealing drugs and driving.
He admitted two charges of possession with intent to supply class B, ketamine and cannabis, having criminal property and driving without a licence or insurance.
Judge Timothy Mousley QC jailed him for 40 months, taking into account the fact he breached an earlier suspended sentence.
Regarding the cyclist, the judge said: ‘Her injuries mercifully were not the most serious but they could quite easily have been a lot more serious than they were.’
Jerrari, of Union Wharf, Mallow Walk, Greenwich in London, claimed to be ‘put under pressure by a gang’ in the capital, the judge added.
He was banned from driving for 44 months. It was extended by 20 months so he would serve it after being released from jail after half of his term.