Harrogate breakfast chef moonlighting as drug dealer caught with 1.8 kilos of cannabis

A Harrogate breakfast chef who moonlighted as a drug dealer has avoided jail despite being found with nearly two kilos of cannabis worth up to £31,000.

Daniel Mott, 25, was arrested by two police officers at 4pm on May 24 after they spotted him loitering outside a Sainsbury’s supermarket in Harrogate.

He then scuttled down a nearby alleyway, “looking furtively over his shoulder”, to do business with a drug customer, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Oishee Dey said that one of the officers, who had been on patrol on King's Road, followed the two men down the alley but they then separated and walked in different directions.

The other officer got out of his car, confronted Mott and noticed the “strong smell of cannabis”.

Mott, a talented chef who had a “bright future ahead of him”, was arrested on suspicion of drug dealing and immediately told the officer he had “about £200 of cannabis in his pockets”. Police also found £365 cash in his jacket pocket.

He was taken to Harrogate Police Station and when told that his home would be searched, he told officers: “You are going to find a lot of cannabis in a bucket in my room.”

During the subsequent search, police found 1.8 kilos of cannabis in the bucket and various bags and containers worth between £13,000 and £31,000.

They also found a 6g wrap of high-purity cocaine, cannabis “edibles” and drug paraphernalia such as weighing scales.

Phones seized at his home and during the search near Sainsbury’s revealed that Mott had sent out “block” or broadcast messages to his dozens of customers.

The trained chef - who worked at “an establishment in Harrogate, doing the breakfast run” - told police the huge drug stash was for his own use and “not for sale”.

He said he “bought cannabis in bulk” and that his last purchase cost him £10,600.

He was charged with possession with intent to supply cannabis, cocaine and THC, a cannabinoid and the psychoactive element of cannabis. He was further charged with being concerned in the supply of the three drugs.

Mott, of Dragon Avenue, Harrogate, appeared for sentence yesterday with an immediate jail sentence seeming all but certain.

Ms Dey said that Mott had primarily been dealing cannabis with a side business of cocaine supply on a much smaller scale.

Defence barrister Stephen Littlewood said although Mott had sent out “bulk” messages, they were only to 24 customers.

He said it was a “standalone operation on a local level” and that Mott had started dealing “partly due to naivety, but mainly (to feed) his own drug addiction at the time”.

He said Mott was a hard worker and had told his employer about his offences. He had since “turned his life completely around” and the job was still open to him.

Mr Recorder Giuliani told Mott: 

Mr Giuliani said he had to bear in mind that Mott was a hard-working young man with good character references who had become involved in drug-dealing partly through naivety.

He told Mott: 

He added that Mott’s work ethic, his good chance of rehabilitation and his honesty with his employer meant that he could suspend the inevitable jail sentence.

Mott received a 12-month prison sentence, but this was suspended for two years. He was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and complete up to 12 days’ rehabilitation activity.  

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