Drug dealer had £200-a-day habit

A Woodbridge drug dealer with a £200-a-day cocaine habit has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Police stopped 22-year-old Warren Backhouse on May 31, 2020, as he was driving on the A12 in an Audi A3 after receiving intelligence that he could be involved in the supply of drugs, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Officers found £945 cash and a number of clear packages containing pills, white rocks, crystals and a yellow substance in his possession and his mobile phone contained messages consistent with drug dealing, the court was told.

Backhouse, 22, of Rouse Hall Estate, Woodbridge, admitted being involved in the supply of drugs including cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine and was given a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years.

He was also given a six-month curfew and a 25-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

Sentencing him on Friday (March 25), Recorder Gabrielle Posner said she was taking an “unusual and exceptional” course by not sending Backhouse straight to prison because she feared it would be the start of a downward spiral for him.

Juliet Donovan, for Backhouse, said he had been working all hours at a hotel and on a farm and had started using cocaine.

His use of the drug had grown to £200 a day and he had started selling drugs to pay for his own habit.