Teen dealer made £20,000 in profit

8:50am Tuesday 7th October 2008

A TEENAGE drug dealer who made almost £20,000 from his illicit trade has been ordered to cough up £20 from his ill-gotten gains.

And Joshua Osman, who was making more than a grand a week, has been given seven days to get his hands on the cash.

The 19-year-old will also forfeit £980 seized by police when he was arrested, a judge ruled during a confiscation hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act. It was ruled he benefited from his crime to the tune of £18,646.

But the judge at Swindon Crown Court ruled he only had £1,000 of realisable assets – including the seized cash.

Osman was put on a suspended sentence in August after pleading guilty to possessing cannabis with intent to supply and supplying the drugs.

When his house was searched he was arrested when police also found cocaine and a pepper spray as well as more cannabis.

And during questioning he told officers how he had peddled cannabis to students at his college making more than a thousand pounds every week selling the £10 wraps.

Osman was arrested near his home in the Okus Road area of Old Town in September last year.

In his rucksack they found six small clear plastic bags containing vegetable matter and £80 in cash. Osman told pals ‘Tell my brother I have been busted’ and asked them to tell his brother to get rid of his stuff.

But when police raided the home he shared with his mother and brother, they found more cannabis and a bag of white powder, which turned out to be cocaine, as well as £900 in cash and a can of pepper spray.

Osman admitted selling cannabis in small £10 bags saying he sold 10 to 20 bags on a weekday and 20 to 30 a day at weekends and admitted selling drugs at college.

He insisted the cocaine was for his own personal use though he would allow mates to have a line if they asked.

Osman, of Tithe Barn Crescent, Old Town, pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis with intent to supply, supplying the drug between, possession of cocaine and having the pepper spray – a prohibited weapon.

But after reading how the teenager had changed his life following his arrest, Judge Douglas Field imposed a suspended sentence and told him to do 180 hours of unpaid work.

He imposed a 24-week sentence suspended for a year and told him to complete 180 hours of community service.