Teen was 'bullied' into dealing heroin and cocaine (From This is Hampshire)
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Okeeno Blair visited Basingstoke to peddle Class A drugs
9:00am Saturday 20th October 2012 in News By Helen Morton
A TEENAGER claimed he had been bullied into dealing heroin and cocaine in Basingstoke after a road accident.
A lawyer representing Okeeno Blair told Winchester Crown Court that the 18-year-old became a pusher after he unintentionally damaged a motorbike.
Nicholas Rowland said the owner of the motorbike, instead of going through an insurance company, insisted Blair pay him back by delivering drugs.
He said: “It was not just verbal threats. He was stabbed in the left buttock on May 8 and was treated in Kings College Hospital, London.”
The court heard that Blair was stopped by the police on Victory Roundabout, in Basingstoke, on June 18.
Prosecutor Dawn Hyland said that when questioned, Blair said he was visiting a friend, but was unable to give officers the name of his friend.
He was arrested and strip-searched and the police found more than 200 used banknotes and two mobile phones, both of which were constantly ringing.
Both contained text messages containing details of appointments with local drug addicts, she said.
Police officers then searched an address at Sinclair Drive, off Churchill Way, Basingstoke, where Blair had previously been observed parking a Peugeot car. Cash to the value of £1,412 was found in a rucksack and drugs were discovered hidden inside a tiger ornament on the windowsill.
Ms Hyland said the 13 wraps of heroin and 13 wraps of cocaine found in the ornament had a total value of between £520 and £780.
Blair pleaded guilty to one charge of money laundering and two charges of drug possession with intent to supply.
Mr Rowland described Blair as “cannon fodder” and said he had got in “way, way above his head”.
He described him as a good student with an apprenticeship in electrics and “dreams of a career in the performing arts”.
Judge Susan Evans said she would depart from normal guidelines when sentencing Blair because of the circumstances of the case.
She gave Blair a 12-month sentence of imprisonment for each count, to run concurrently, but suspended the jail term for 24 months.
Blair of Kirkdale, Sydenham, London, was also ordered to fulfil an 18-month supervision requirement and to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.
