‘Busy’ Bassetlaw drug dealer has changed his life around

Rizwan Ahmed tried to flee when police stopped his car on July 28, 2018, but he was found hiding in a nearby shop, said prosecutor Andrew Peet.

Around £350 of drugs were discovered along with a mobile phone containing messages to 20 named buyers, and £350 in cash.

A dealer list showed debts and payments ranging between £40 to £1,100.

"He was obviously able to get hold of stock relatively readily," said Mr Peet.

Ahmed, now aged 31, was released on bail, but he was arrested again in September 2018, this time with around £300 of cocaine, cannabis and ecstasy.

He has 22 previous convictions, 12 of which are drug-related, dating back to 2010. The court heard he was jailed for dealing in 2013 and 2015, but kept out of trouble for three years.

Harbinder Lally, mitigating, said Ahmed was "not a defendant you would normally have before the court."

Nottingham Crown Court heard Ahmed was brought up in a "pro-criminal environment" "that was only going to lead him to one place - and that's here."

"He has moved on and is now a qualified gas engineer,” he said. “He got caught, he got caught again – and now he just wants to get on with his life. He has married and has a four-month-old son.

"His sister has put him on the straight and narrow. It's almost four years on. His addiction has now been curtailed. His job starts on Monday.

"There's no justification for his behaviour all those years ago. He has a horrendous record.”

Ahmed, of Old Mill Close, Retford, pleaded guilty to six counts of possession with intent to supply class A and B drugs and possession of a class A drug, on December 16, last year.

On Friday, Judge Julie Warburton told him: “I have been come to the conclusion that there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation and that allows me to suspend what would have been a custodial sentence.”

She said he had “essentially served an extended deferred sentence,” and sentenced him to 24 months, suspended for two years, with 180 hours of unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation days.

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