Dealer claimed £640 of crack cocaine found after Leeds chase was for a party

Kyle Grest got out of a car waiting at lights in Kirkstall and fled on foot when he noticed police behind him, but was quickly detained. Leeds Crown Court heard that officers had been on patrol near Burley Place at around 4pm on July 30, 2021, when a Suzuki Swift pinged on their ANPR camera as potentially having no insurance cover.

When they stopped behind the car, 27-year-old Grest quickly got out of the passenger side and ran. Once the officers caught up with him, they found 64 wraps of crack cocaine and eight wraps of heroin on him, along with £540 cash. The total value of the drugs came to £720.

The drugs were in different coloured wraps, which police experts said were the hallmark of a "well-planned operation". Two addresses were searched as a result of Grest's arrest, but no further drugs or cash were found.

During his police interview, he told officers that the crack was just for him because he was going to a party, and said the heroin belonged to the driver of the Suzuki.

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He denied two counts of dealing in class A drugs, but changed his pleas to guilty just two weeks before he was due to stand trial. He has four previous convictions for seven offences, but none for dealing drugs.

Mitigating, Charles Blatchford pointed out that Grest, of Parkwood Road, Beeston, was lightly convicted and like many drug users, had accrued a debt so was put to work by dealers to pay it off. But he said Grest was "not without hope", and was now a father-of-three wanting to provide for his family.

Judge Richard Mansell KC said he would take a "wholly exceptional course" and suspended his 24-month jail sentence for 24 months. He gave him 150 hours of unpaid work and 15 rehabilitation days. He said: "Since your arrest you have grown up considerably and you're trying to provide with legitimate work."

But he warned him: "You are fortunate today. Make sure you take this with both hands."