Clumsy drug dealer to spend 54 months behind bars – Essex

A drug dealer that dropped a Kinder Egg casing of heroin and crack cocaine as he fled officers has been jailed for 54 months following a British Transport Police (BTP) investigation.

He was stopped at Clacton-on-Sea railway station.

Billy Johnson, 19, and of Cluny Square, Southend-on-Sea, appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court on 30 September where he pleaded guilty to two counts of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs and one count of possession of Class B drugs.

On Tuesday 26 October, a judge at Chelmsford Crown Court sentenced him to a total of four years and six months imprisonment.

Johnson was spotted getting out of a car with two associates at Clacton-on-Sea station on the morning of Wednesday 1 September.

He then began wandering around the station and its car park making phone calls on an old-style phone, often referred to as a ‘burner’.

Officers approached Johnson and he fled – only making it a short distance across the car park before they caught up with him.

A small amount of cannabis and his burner phone were seized, and a routine check uncovered that he was wanted for questioning in connection with another offence. He was subsequently arrested and taken to police custody.

A search of the station’s car park was conducted, and officers located an orange Kinder Egg case containing individual wraps of heroin and crack cocaine.

CCTV footage covering the car park was downloaded and viewed – it showed the item falling from Johnson’s person as he tried to make his escape.

Officers analysed the information contained on Johnson’s burner phone, which revealed messages being sent to a large number of recipients offering heroin and crack cocaine.

Detective Inspector, Graham Moss, said: “Identifying dealers and bringing them to justice is crucial in stopping harmful drugs reaching our communities.

“A huge amount of credit must go to the fleet-footed officers who not only used their professional curiosity to engage with Johnson but stopped him before he could make off.

“We have teams working round the clock across England, Scotland and Wales dedicated to disrupting County Lines criminal activity. I would urge anyone on the railway who spots something that doesn’t look right to report it to us by texting 61016.”