A teenage Bedford drug dealer who has started a new life away from the town was given a suspended sentence on Wednesday, January 24, 2024.
Bradley Turner was aged just 17 and three quarters when he was arrested in Harrowden Road in April 2022.
Prosecutor Michael Harrison told Luton Crown Court Turner’s father had called the police, saying he had been assaulted.
When Turner was searched a small amount of cannabis was found in his jeans, but in his track suit bottoms were £400 of cocaine and £200 of heroin.
In the custody suite at the police station the police also found that he had a crossbow bolt on him.
Mr Harrison said Turner’s phone was examined and drug dealing messages were found. Turner was out on bail in September last year when the police stopped him in London Road, Bedford in the early hours of the morning.
They found a block pot, a cannabis grinder and cannabis. When he was strip searched at the police station a golf ball containing wraps of heroin and crack was found.
Turner, now aged 19, and living in Norwood Gardens, Southall appeared for sentence, having pleaded guilty to possessing heroin and crack with intent to supply on two occasions.
He also admitted two charges of possessing cannabis and possessing a blade.
Defending, Nathan Palmer said Turner had done the right thing by pleading guilty. He said he had not had an easy upbringing and had left school with no qualifications.
Turner, who has been diagnosed with ADHD and Oppositional Defiant Disorder, was now living in a stable environment in a hostel, having previously been sofa surfing. “He is now living aware from his peers and has been making positive progress,” said Mr Palmer.
He has spent 121 days on an electronically-monitored curfew. Judge Allison Hunter KC sentenced him to two years in custody suspended for two years.
JANUARY 2024 LINKS TO THE PAPERS
BEDS BOROUGH BULLETIN
https://digital.magmgr.com/Preview/Index/2696083#page/1
BEDS COUNTY BULLETIN
https://digital.magmgr.com/Preview/Index/2696119#page/1
KEMPSTON CALLING
https://digital.magmgr.com/Preview/Index/2696127#page/1
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