A ‘not very bright’ drug dealer has been jailed for his third heroin supply offence in four years.
Tayaub Hussain was running a drugs line nicknamed ‘Gobby’ when he was stopped a stone’s throw from his own house in Queen Street, Banbury, on April 4.
The dealer, who was then out of prison on early-release licence, was searched and had more than £1,180 stuffed in various pockets. His house was raided and, in his bedroom, police found a 27g block of heroin that could have been worth up to £2,700 if broken down into smaller street deals of £10 each.
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Oxford Crown Court heard that Hussain had 31 previous convictions, more of half of which were for drugs.
He was first convicted of dealing cannabis in 2014, then received jail sentences of 32 months apiece when he was dealt with in successive years for supplying class A drugs in 2018 and 2019. That made him subject to rules requiring a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years minus any credit for his early guilty plea.
Jailing him for six years and one month at Oxford Crown Court on Tuesday, the day before his 28th birthday, Judge Nigel Daly said: “Mr Hussain, I know you may be somewhat intellectually challenged but you have been appearing before these courts over the years time and time again.
“You have been given different sentences none of which seem to work. You have been breached on a suspended sentence, you have been given a conditional discharge and of course ou have been sent to prison on a number of occasions
“The minimum sentence I can pass upon you, because it is not unjust to do so, is seven years and I give you credit for your plea.
“If you keep supplying controlled drugs, if you keep supplying class A drugs you will keep being sent to prison.
“That is your life if you keep doing it. It is very straightforward; don’t do it and you won’t get sent to prison. And that doesn’t take a massive intelligence to understand.”
In a parting shot, the judge added before the defendant was taken down: “Stop doing it as you will continue to go to prison.”
Hussain, of Queen Street, Banbury, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to possession with intent to supply heroin, possession of criminally acquired cash and possession of cannabis.
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Mitigating, Gordana Austin said her client had begun taking cannabis when he was in his teens. “His parents simply didn’t know how to deal with his behviour. They sent him to Pakistan to live with his grandparents. He stayed there for two years and unfortunately when he returned to this country things in fact got worse.”
A psychiatric report prepared for a previous case was summarised by the judge as saying ‘he’s not terribly bright’.
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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.
To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk
Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward
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