'Deals on wheels' drug dealer is spared jail time

JUDGE: 'I HAVE NO DOUBT MANY WILL CONSIDER THIS LENIENT'

- By MARTIN NAYLOR

A DRUG dealer who ran a “deals-on-wheels”-style delivery service has escaped immediate custody “by the skin of his teeth.”

Nottingham Crown Court heard how Alex Masciopinto tried to recruit a runner by telling him he could “make yourself a bag of sniff” if he carried out a cannabis drop to a customer.

The 36-year-old defendant - who was caught with more than £6,000 worth of cocaine in his car and a van parked outside his address - also threatened violence on a user who was in his debt.

His partner - with whom he has a child - sobbed in the public gallery as he was told he would not be going to jail.

Imposing a suspended two-year, jail sentence, Judge Michael Auty KC said: “Two of these drugs are the most pernicious drugs these courts ever see. They cause devastation and, make no doubt about it, they cause death.

“I always look at people like you with bewilderment because you plainly have a devoted partner who is sitting in the court. You could not ask for anything more.