'It brings me no pleasure to jail you,' judge tells Sheffield drug dealer who turned his life around

"It brings me no pleasure to send you to prison," a judge told a Sheffield drug dealer after hearing of the way he had turned his life around, but said the selling of cocaine and heroin was so serious that he had no other option.

As he jailed defendant, Kyron Pointer, the judge, Recorder Richard Woolfall also laid bare the impact to society caused by the illegal drug dealing trade.

"Class A drugs wreak havoc, for those who are taking it - you know that from your own experience - it destroys the lives of addicts, many unable to lift themselves out of their addiction in the way you did. But it also funds crimes, because those involved [with taking Class A drugs] often commit serious crimes to be able to fund their addictions. This is why these cases are always treated so seriously," Recorder Woolfall told Pointer, during a Sheffield Crown Court sentencing hearing held on July 20, 2023.

Prosecuting barrister, Richard Sheldon, said Pointer's dealing was exposed after police stopped a vehicle Pointer, now aged 31, was a passenger in on April 4, 2021, as the vehicle was on Rivelin Valley Road, which runs between the Rivelin and Hillsborough areas of Sheffield.

A search of the vehicle was subsequently carried out and officers found '9.42 grams of cocaine in a block' and when Pointer was taken to the police station, he was found to have secreted 24 wraps of heroin in his underwear, Mr Sheldon said.

A further 80 wraps of cocaine were recovered, and Pointer was also found to be in possession of two mobile phones and £2,870 in cash, with another £1,000 of cash found during a search of his property, the court heard.

Mr Sheldon said the street value of the drugs found in Pointer's possession was estimated to be approximately £840. Police found evidence of cannabis dealing on one of Pointer's mobile telephones, although he was not found to have the Class B drug in his possession at the time of his arrest; but he refused to provide the PIN for his other device.

The court heard that a second male was initially arrested in connection with the drug offences, but the case against him was subsequently dropped.

Pointer, formerly of St Philips Road, Netherthorpe, Sheffield, was charged with, and pleaded guilty to two offences of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs, namely heroin and cocaine, at an earlier hearing. The court was told he has a number of previous convictions, including one relating to the production of drugs.

Richards Adams, defending, said Pointer had experienced a difficult childhood, with no 'positive peer or parental influence,' and had become involved with crime at different parts of his life.

Explaining the circumstances which led to Pointer dealing Class A drugs, Mr Adams said: "In the early part of 2021, work was hard to come by. We were emerging from numerous lockdowns. He found himself tempted by the lure of a way, albeit an illegal way, to make money."

"There appears to have been a Road to Damascus moment," Mr Adams added, in reference to a passage from the Bible that has come to be used as shorthand for an experience which brings about a sudden, positive change in a person's life.

Detailing the change to Pointer's character and work-ethic in the two years since his drug offences, Mr Adams said Pointer had enrolled on a plumbing course, gained a number of qualifications, used his initative to approach a professional in the field, and had also found work in a livery yard.

"It's a seismic, if not meteoric, shift that can be proven over the course of two years," Mr Adams said.

Recorder Woolfall said he had taken note of Pointer's transformation into a 'capable, hard-working man' and said he regonised the defendant had a long-standing partner and three children who would be affected by his incarceration.

"It's a shame you didn't think about what might happen to then if you were doing this," Recorder Woolfall.

He sentenced Pointer to three years in prison, but told him: "It brings me no pleasure to send you to prison, but I'm afraid my public duty requires an immediate prison sentence for offences of this seriousness."