"Honest" drug dealer tells police a tale after Kettering arrest

A drug dealer caught with heroin and crack cocaine worth almost £5,000 on the A43 in Kettering assured police he was being honest when he said they weren't his.

But Keddon Xsousa's tale of picking up a package from a friend at Gatwick Airport and not knowing what was inside was branded "fictitious" as he was jailed at Northampton Crown Court yesterday (Friday).

In a hearing held over Skype because of the coronavirus crisis, the court heard Xsousa, of Redhill in Surrey, was arrested after police stopped his black Vauxhall Astra on the northern bypass between the A14 and Rockingham Road on February 18.

The 39-year-old was in the driver's seat with a blue plastic bag in his lap but when police told him to get out of the car he twice "lurched" forward in a bid to escape.

Police then smashed his window to take the keys from the ignition and arrested him.

He told police: "I will be honest officer, there's some drugs on the front seat but they aren't mine."

Officers searched the bag and found capsules full of heroin and crack cocaine in wraps and powder worth a total of £4,935 with the potential to be sold as hundreds of street deals, as well as more than £400 in cash and a flick knife in the boot.

He was taken to a police station to be interviewed but denied being a drug dealer.

Prosecuting, Ben Gow said: "What he did was give a prepared statement which was entirely ficticious.

"He said he had picked up a friend from Gatwick Airport, who he said was called Winston, and given a package to take to Corby but he did not open it.

"He said he had pulled up in a lay-by because it (the contents) was playing on his mind."

Xsousa - who has previous public order convictions under the name Roger Williams - later pleaded guilty to possession of class A drugs with intent to supply and having a blade in public.

Mitigating, Liam Muir said Xsousa was extremely remorseful and knew he had let people down.

He said: "This is his first period in custody and he has made it clear he intends this to be his last."

Sentencing him to three years in prison, Judge Rebecca Crane said: "There must have been some awareness of the scale of the operation given the quantity of drugs you were holding."

Xsousa will spend half of his sentence in custody with the remainder on licence.

He will face a proceeds of crime hearing at a later date.