Dealer with cocaine hidden in bedroom wall jailed
Northumbria PoliceA drug dealer found with a stash of cocaine hidden in his bedroom wall has been jailed for three years and four months.
Aaron Evans, 34, sold drugs directly from the Newcastle home he shared with his partner and four children, the city's crown court heard.
He claimed he started dealing to pay off a loan shark after accruing debts during the coronavirus pandemic, but money was also spent on designer clothes and computer games.
Evans admitted possessing a Class A drug with intent to supply and money laundering, with the court hearing £69,000 of "unexplained income" was paid into his bank account.
Police found more than £5,500 in cash along with cocaine worth up to £1,100 when they raided Evans' home on Armstrong Road on 9 April 2022, prosecutor Rachel Butt said.
Some of the drugs were discovered hidden in a wall cavity concealed by a fake power socket in his bedroom, the court heard, while two "debtors' lists" of those who owed him money were stashed on top of a wardrobe.
'Significant criminal role'
Officers also found mobile phones with evidence they had been used to arrange deals, Ms Butt said.
A search of his bank account showed "unexplained income" had been deposited over a 15-month period, including more than 500 electronic transfers from at least 21 different people and 88 cash payments, Ms Butt said.
The deposits were often rapidly followed by "significant expenditure" on items including designer clothes and videogame consoles and games, the court heard.
In mitigation, Evans said he had been a hard-working family man who got into trouble with a loan shark during the coronavirus pandemic when he had to stop his employment.
He started taking drugs to cope with the pressure thereby building up drug debts, the court was told, with him resorting to selling cocaine himself.
Judge Penny Moreland heard his incarceration would have a "terrible" impact on his family, but she said Evans was the only person to blame for that.
She said it was "highly aggravating" that Evans stored and sold the drugs at the same house where his children lived and he had played a "significant role" in the illegal trade.
A proceeds of crime hearing was set for a future date.