Dealer sold cocaine from his Audi in Leeds to clear mounting drug debt

Danny Mouatt later confessed he had been a user himself but ran up a substantial debt and was put to work to clear what he owed, Leeds Crown Court heard.

Officers were patrolling the Yeadon area on the evening of July 19 when they saw the silver Audi A3 parked up on Cemetery Road. A person approached the car, before exchanging money and drugs and walking away.

It then drove off with the police following. It turned into an industrial estate before the officers pulled it over. Mouatt was driving with a female passenger next to him.

They searched the car and found a control panel next to the steering was loose. Behind it they found nine dealer bags of cocaine and two of cannabis worth a total of £400.

They also seized several phones that contained messages that were evident of dealing, and £130 cash. Mouatt, 29, confessed that the drugs were his, and that the female was not involved. She was not charged.

Mouatt, of Bank, Bradford, eventually admitted dealing cocaine and cannabis, having initially denied the charges claiming the drugs were for personal use. He has three previous convictions for four offences, including possession of drugs.

Mitigating, Rodney Ferm said Mouatt had a “difficult background” and added: “He has been through bad times and became a substantial drug user. He had a habit and fell into debt.

"He was provided with phones, a stock of drugs and sent out onto the streets to work off that debt. It was a chaotic and disordered lifestyle.” He said Mouatt had a job waiting for him, and he was now clean from drugs.

Mouatt has been held on remand since his arrest, to which the judge, the Recorder of Leeds Guy Kearl KC, said: “If that has no effect on you then nothing will.”

He said it allowed him to step back from an immediate custodial sentence. Instead, he gave him 24 months’ jail, suspended for 24 months, with 20 rehabilitation days.

But he warned him: “The bottom line is that this is an opportunity to leave offending behind. If you commit further offences you will come back to court and you will go to prison.”