A convicted drug dealer who made nearly £100,000 in a major cocaine plot in Harrogate has been ordered to repay just over £2,000 for his ill-gotten gains.

Leo Grant, 30, played a pivotal role in the lucrative dealing racket in which he and three other Harrogate dealers peddled drugs in the town’s streets and parks. 

In April last year, Grant was jailed for nearly three years at York Crown Court after he admitted offering to supply cocaine.

On the day of sentence, the crown set in train confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act which would determine how much Grant had to repay into the public coffers for his criminal gains.

Yesterday (October 15), the financial-confiscation hearing was held at the same court.

Lynchpin in drug plot

The prosecution said that Grant had profited to the tune of £97,723 during the dealing enterprise.

However, the “available amount” - Grant’s funds and any assets - was just over £2,399.

Judge Sean Morris duly made a confiscation order to the tune of £2,399.50, to be paid within six months.

Brian Russell, the prosecuting barrister at the sentence hearing last spring, said that Grant was a lynchpin in the drug plot along with Haris Hendry-Hussain, who was 23 years’ old at the point of sentence, and 22-year-old Jak Webber-Keen.

He said they were the fulcrum of a major drug enterprise during the Covid lockdown in 2020.

Over several months that year, the Harrogate narco-crew, including Isaac Mitchell, who was 22 years’ old at the point of sentence - were dealing “significant” amounts of Class A and B drugs.

Grant, Mitchell and Hendry-Hussain had been living at a communal property in St Mary’s Avenue, Harrogate, which was raided by police in August 2020 when they were all arrested.

Mr Russell said the drugs racket came to light following a police operation in which they carried out surveillance in parks and other locations in Harrogate. 

On August 21, 2020, police searched various homes in Harrogate including the property in St Mary’s Avenue which Leo Grant had been sub-letting to Hendry-Hussain and Mitchell.

Police found a bag of cannabis worth up to £2,950 and a further 21 bags containing “1oz deals” with a street value of up to £4,200, along with £1,300 cash.

Grant - now of Westbourne Terrace, Selby - had a “managerial” role in the drug plot and sent out block messages to a “wide range of contacts” while Webber-Keen “boasted of making £640 in one night”.

Defence barrister Ismael Uddin said that Grant had led a “nomadic lifestyle” and was now estranged from his well-educated family who were “no longer speaking to him”.

Judge Morris, who sentenced the four men in April last year, jailed Grant for two years and 11 months.

Webber-Keen – then of Glebe Avenue, Harrogate – was jailed for 18 months for being concerned in the supply of cannabis and offering to supply cocaine.

Hendry-Hussain – then of Swinton Court, Harrogate - received a 20-month prison sentence for supplying cannabis.

Mitchell – then of Kings Road, Harrogate - received an 18-month suspended jail sentence for possession with intent to supply cannabis and MDMA, the crystallised form of Ecstasy.

The judge gave him a suspended sentence because, unlike the others, he pleaded guilty at the first time of asking and had completely turned his life around.