A drugs trafficker couldn’t escape his past when he was told drugs and cash seized by the police meant he was in debt to his drug chain bosses.
Rehab Abdin was told unless he did one last drugs run his family would suffer.
His dad was a taxi driver in Luton and Abdin, 23, was told unless he agreed to help his former associates the vehicle would be destroyed.
Abdin, who had been trying to go straight, was told, his younger brother would be ‘cut’ and the home he lived in with his parents would be damaged.
Luton crown court was told on Thursday, September 17, 2020, as a result of the threats Abdin agreed to be a drugs courier, collecting heroin and cocaine from one location and driving with it to another.
It was what he was doing on the evening of June 30 this year when he was behind the wheel of a Toyota Aygo in Luton as it turned into Douglas Road from Dunstable Road.
Prosecutor Alex Krickler said a police officer who was nearby in his patrol car saw the manoeuvre and saw also the attempt by the driver to shield his face from the policeman.
Recorder Cairns Nelson QC hearing the case was told the officer decided to follow the Toyota which was now speeding and causing oncoming cars to veer out of the way.
In a short chase the Toyota’s speed was clocked at around 50mph on a road where the limit is 30mph.
Moments later Abdin pulled up in the car and made a run for it, climbing a fence to get into a nearby garden.
The officer gave chase and vaulted the fence to find Abfin still there and squaring up to him. The prosecutor said the defendant had to be tasered before he was tackled to the ground and handcuffed.
Recorder Nelson was told it soon became apparent why Abdin was so keen to get away – he had two four-and-a-half ounce bars of heroin and cocaine which an expert said could have produced street deals worth between £7000 and £11,300.
Almost £800 in cash was also discovered on him along with a small amount of cannabis for his own use.
Abdin of Black Swan Lane in Luton pleaded guilty to dangerou driving, two charges of possessing a class A drug with intent to supply and possessing cannabis.
The court was told he had previous convictions for dealing Class A drugs and at the time of the offences was subject to a suspended sentence.
Daniel Darnbrough defending said since his last brush with the law, Abdin had worked hard to get away from the lifestyle and associates which had led to two convictions for possessing class A drug with intent.
The court was told however that his former drug supply bosses took a dim view that Abdin had lost valuable merchandise and cash on the last occasion he was arrested by the police.
As a result he was told he now had a debt to them and said Mr Darnborough: “His past caught up with him and an individual came back into his life and made threats.”
The court was told the threats made were that unless he agreed to collect heroin and cocaine from a location and deliver it to another his family would suffer.
“He didn’t feel able to go to the authorities at that point and tell them. It’s what he should have done and he regrets that now.
“It was: ‘You do one job and I will leave you alone’. He agreed to do the job for him. He was acting as a courier,” said the barrister.
Mr Darnbrough said on seeing the police car Abdin had panicked and driven off at speed and had got out of the car after only covering around 700 meters.
The court heard that since his remand in custody Abdin had been held in prison which because of the Covid-19 pandemic made life particularly hard for inmates.
Mr Darnbrough explained restrictions in prison meant his client had been spending 23 hours a day in his cell, with no access to to educational courses, and the gym had been closed off to inmates.
“The reality is people in prison are are doing hard time.”
Passing sentence Recorder Nelson said this was now Abdin’s third conviction for drug trafficking.
He told him “I accept you were acting as a courier as a result of a drug debt. Abdin was given a 30 month prison sentence of which he will serve half behind bars and disqualified from driving for 28 months. He was told he must take an extended driving test before he gets behind the wheel of a car again.”
