Teenage Drug Dealer Sentenced

A teenage drug dealer seen loitering suspiciously outside a Cambridge convenience store was found to have cocaine and heroin in his car worth more than £2,000, a court heard.

19-year-old Kieran Merchant, of Chatham Road, Wandsworth, was spotted by officers on patrol in an unmarked car on 4 August, 2017 in Akeman Street, Cambridge.

Officers continued driving along Akeman Street and used Darwin Drive to loop round in a circle while checks were completed on the car they had seen Merchant in. The checks revealed it was not from the local area.

As the unmarked police car came back round the block, Merchant got out of the car and walked slowly towards Histon Road.

Police drove back towards Histon Road and saw Merchant standing outside the Co-op, as if waiting for someone. He made no effort to go inside the shop, Cambridge Crown Court heard.

Officers spoke to Merchant, who appeared very nervous and couldn’t provide a logical reason for why he was in Cambridge that day.

Officers searched the car Merchant was originally seen in, where they found a black plastic bag which contained 140 wraps of cocaine and 105 wraps of heroin worth about £2,450.

Merchant was arrested and interviewed, but provided no comment to all questions put to him.

However, he later pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply and possessing criminal property.

He was sentenced at Cambridge Crown Court on Friday, where he was handed a 16-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.

Merchant was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.