Stephen Speight, 34, was caught with 10 grams of crack cocaine and £1,500 cash when police raided his Middlesbrough home – but he tried to pin the blame on his own mum
A crack cocaine dealer attempted to shift the blame onto his mum, following a police raid on his home. Stephen Speight, 34, was arrested with 10grams of crack cocaine on November 25, 2024.
Teesside Crown Court was told that police had a warrant to search his property in Middlesbrough. They also discovered phones utilised in the drug operation, £1,500 in cash and a list of customers who were in debt.
Text messages revealed that Speight had been attempting to enlist others to peddle his drugs. Christopher Wood, prosecuting, informed the court that Speight initially tried to implicate his mother for the drug hoard. He denied the offence in court and his case was scheduled for trial.
Over a year later, Speight admitted to possession of a class A drug with intent to supply, at a pre-trial hearing, reports Teesside Live.
On Monday, Caoimhe Bicknell, defending, stated that Speight had “a severe addiction” to cocaine and that he was consuming “large amounts every day”. He began dealing the drugs to finance his own addiction, Ms Caoimhe said, but he didn’t earn much and “he was in a dark place”.
She added: “In the messages on the phones that were seized, he says he is owed a lot of money, that people weren’t paying him. He no longer blames his mother. He simply panicked, he has never been to prison before”.
The court was told a medical report confirmed that he suffers from ADHD and depression. Judge Ayesha Smart sentenced Speight, of Penny Avenue in Thorntree, Middlesbrough, to 36 months behind bars.
Speight’s family called out, “love you, son” as he was taken from the courtroom.
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