No jail sentence for Uber rider caught dealing drugs near Westgate

Adam Ismail, now 22, was arrested on June 10, 2018, after security guards at the Oxford shopping centre saw him and another man acting suspiciously.

He was detained and searched. Officers uncovering nine wraps of heroin and 16 wraps of crack cocaine, worth around £250 on the street.

Ismail, then aged just 18, also had more than £300 in cash on him, including £209 in a man bag.

It was said that he got involved in dealing drugs through a mixture of naivety and peer pressure.

At the time, he had been hanging around with a ‘bad crowd’ and fell under their spell.

He delivered a package for one of those friends, who handed him £2,000. Naively, he assumed it was payment for delivering the parcel. He later discovered to his cost that it was not and found himself ‘on the hook’ to the dealer.

On Thursday (March 9), prosecutor Richard Mandel told Oxford Crown Court the defendant was at large for a number of years since his arrest. He was said to have been living in Dubai for some time.

He was arrested in Leicester last December, when police officers pulled him over on suspicion of taking the car he was driving. The vehicle in fact belonged to his aunt and the police took no further action.

Adam Ismail (right) outside Oxford Crown Court Picture: Oxford Mail (Image: Oxford Mail)

The second man with whom he was arrested in Oxford five years ago had absconded and not faced justice, Mr Mandel said.

The court heard that Ismail was currently studying for a law degree with the Open University, living with his aunt in Leicester and making deliveries as a cycle courier with Uber.

His brief, Nathan Palmer, asked the judge to spare the young man a prison sentence. A jail term would have ‘implications’ for his future career prospects.

“He’s bright, he’s honest and he’s been upfront about his naivety at the time,” the lawyer said. He had not been in trouble with the law since his arrest in 2018.

Adam Ismail outside Oxford Crown Court (left) Picture: Oxford Mail (Image: Oxford Mail)

Recorder Presland noted that it was an old offence, ‘almost five years old – two World Cups ago’, and Ismail would have been sentenced under guidelines that applied to young offenders.

But she added: “You do need to be punished. Class A [drugs] are a blight on society full stop. They lead to deaths not only [from] the drug but because of the nature of the gangs that deal them on the black market. Many young men lose their lives through gang warfare.”

She imposed a two year community order with 250 hours of unpaid work, a six month curfew and up to 11 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

Asked by Mr Mandel whether she would order Ismail pay costs to the Crown Prosecution Service, Recorder Presland shook her head. “He’s not working as a banker.”