Suspended sentence for teen who found 'excitement' in dealing drugs

Former top-scoring business student Isaac Vola, 18, began selling class A drugs after being seduced by the prospect of making quick cash.

Then aged just 17, the Bicester youth was caught 100 miles from home in Bournemouth’s Lower Gardens park in February with seven wraps of crack cocaine and a ‘terrifying’ knife in his pocket.

He failed to turn up at the south coast city’s magistrates’ court in August to answer charges of possession of drugs and a blade.

When he was arrested at his mum’s home in Caversfield on September 8, three days after his 18th birthday, police officers discovered 17 wraps of heroin and crack cocaine in a pair of tracksuit bottoms. The trousers were found beside the lower of two bunk beds, where Vola had been sleeping when police arrived.

The drugs had been analysed and were estimated to have a street value of £170.

Videos found on an iPad showed the teen ‘flipping through large wads of notes of various denominations’, prosecutor Cathy Olliver said. Another video showed him ‘playing’ with a large machete.

Nothing was found on his phone pointing to him being heavily involved in the supply of drugs, and he was sentenced on the basis that he was a runner.

Vola, of Thompson Drive, Caversfield, pleaded guilty at the magistrates’ court to possession with intent to supply class A drugs, possession of class A drugs and possession of a knife. He had no previous convictions.

Vola's curved knife Picture: CPS (Image: CPS)

Mitigating, Lyall Thompson said his client had been ‘honest’ and that he ‘got some excitement from this and was doing it for the money’.

He was an ‘immature young man who saw what he thought was an easy way to make money and has now been brought very sharply to his senses’. The teen had now spent seven weeks in prison on remand.

At school he had shown an aptitude for business, receiving a grade nine – the top mark – in his business studies GCSE. He hoped to pursue a business career.

Sentencing Vola on Tuesday, Judge Ian Pringle KC said: “The carrying of knives by young people in this country is, to use a catch-word, an epidemic and it will be met with prison sentences.”

However, he suspended the two year jail term for two years, recognising the teenager’s youth, lack of previous convictions and lesser role in the drugs operation.

Ordering him to do 150 hours of unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days, the judge told Vola: “This is your first time in a crown court. Make sure it’s your last.”

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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

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