'Bright' Kettering drug dealer didn't learn his lesson

A teenage Kettering drug dealer with 10 GCSEs to his name was told he didn't learn his lesson as he was locked up by a judge.

Patrick Jacob was arrested after tripping on a branch as he fled from police and was found with a knife and almost 100 bags of heroin and crack cocaine.

When he was sentenced at Leicester Crown Court on Friday (January 15) his legal representative James Armstrong-Holmes said he had mixed with the wrong crowd and was a 'bright young man'.

But His Honour Judge David Herbert QC bluntly said: "If he is as bright as he says he is he should know there's another path to take."

The court heard police received reports that Jacob, 18, may have been dealing drugs in a wooded area near Cleveland Avenue and attended the scene on October 26 last year.

When they arrived they noticed him with his back to them, holding something in his hand, before he fled and threw two phones away when officers shouted at him to stop.

But his escape was short-lived.

Prosecuting, Jonathan Eley, said: "He tripped on a branch and officers caught up with him."

They found him in possession of a large hunting knife with a serrated top and took him into custody where he was searched.

Hidden in his underwear were 29 bags of heroin, weighing 4.27g, and 69 bags of crack cocaine, weighing 11.2g.

The total street value of the drugs came in at £1,960.

The court heard Jacob, of Centre Parade in Kettering, had previous drug convictions and had been banned from the town through an exclusion order, but returned to deal drugs just days after it expired.

He later admitted two counts of possession of class A drugs with intent to supply and a charge of possessing a knife in public.

Mitigating, Mr Armstrong-Holmes said Jacob lacked a positive male role model in his life and had been offending since he was 13, seeing it as an opportunity to make money.

He said: "It's a damning indictment on society that someone as young as 13 is made to feel that way."

He added that Jacob had suffered a 'sobering' experience on remand in prison and had been bullied at HMP Lincoln.

Judge Herbert sentenced Jacob to a total of 28 months in detention.

He will serve half in custody before he is eligible for release on licence.

Judge Herbert told the teenager: "You did not learn your lesson.

"I hope you have learnt your lesson now."