Teenage heroin dealer had gun hidden in alley

18-year-old now jailed

- Sentinel Reporter

POLICE found a teenage dealer with 'wads of cash'.

Ateeq Hussain also had a phone which had sent 1,300 messages to drug users as heroin and crack cocaine was peddled across Stoke-on-Trent.

But the 18-year-old, above, was arrested after acting suspiciously outside a property on St John Street, in Hanley, last June.

Prosecutor Barry White told Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court: "A search warrant was issued and police raided the address. The defendant was found inside with a phone in his hands next to wads of cash. Inside the property were various 'burner' phones, plastic containers, scales, and a contactless card payment machine. A green tub was located containing 96 wraps of heroin and 43 deals of crack cocaine. They had a combined estimated value of £3,000.

"In the alleyway of the property, a converted blank-firing handgun was found rolled up in a carpet. The firearm was capable of firing live ammunition and had been fire tested. The defendant's DNA was found on the trigger of the weapon."