Nottingham cannabis dealer 'feeling more positive' since giving up drugs and taking up boxing

Kurt Twells was dealing to fund his own addiction but he's turned his life around since he was arrested

A cannabis dealer who for 18 months was dealing on the street to fund his own addiction, has been spared an immediate prison sentence. Nottingham Crown Court heard how police stopped Kurt Twells as his black Seat Leon was “swerving along” the Gamston Lings Bar bypass, near West Bridgford.

A test showed him to be driving while under the influence of the class B drug and cash and drugs were found in the car. Analysis of the 27-year-old’s mobile phone revealed he had been regularly dealing for a year-and-a-half.

Handing him a 10-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, Judge Steven Coupland said: “For about an 18-month period, you were involved in the supply of cannabis. It is plain what you were doing and it is plain you were doing it for profit as the phone messages which were recovered show. You were a busy street dealer selling not just small deals but, on occasions, larger quantities as well.

“I don’t need to tell you about the impact of cannabis because you are here. I make it clear that if you commit any further offences you and I will meet again and if I see you in the dock again I will be sending you to prison. No second chances.”

Matt Hayes, prosecuting, said police followed and stopped Twells as he drove on the Gamston Lings Bar bypass at around 8.40pm on December 16. He said a drugs swipe test showed he was over the limit for cannabis which he has already been dealt with for at the magistrates’ court.

The prosecutor said a search of the car uncovered £980 in cash, bags of cannabis in a Tupperware tub on the back seat and a mobile phone. Mr Hayes said: “The phone was found to contain messages that showed he had been selling cannabis. Between November 23 and December 16, 2022, 69 different postcodes and street names were sent to him (for delivery of the drugs).

“There were messages he was buying and selling larger amounts of cannabis.” Twells, of Amesbury Circus, Broxtowe, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis and apart from the drug driving charge linked to the vehicle stop, has no other convictions on his record.

Will Bennett, mitigating, said in the near two years since he was arrested, his client, who is a father, is now in a relationship with a new partner who is expecting her first child with him. He said: “At the time, he had poor mental health and guess what? Since he has stopped taking cannabis he has taken up boxing and he is now feeling more positive. He has stayed out of trouble, he was in significant debt and that is what got him into trouble in the first place.”

As part of the suspended sentence, the judge ordered the defendant to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work. The drugs seized will be destroyed and the cash used for charitable purposes, he told the court.