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A drug dealer who brought cocaine, ketamine and cannabis to the streets of Harrogate has been jailed for four years and 10 months.

Donovan Tanaka Mkutchwa, 24, who was already remanded in prison but previously lived in Keswick and Harrogate, was sentenced at York Crown Court today (May 9).

According to a North Yorkshire Police media release today, officers received information on Friday, May 5 last year that Mkutchwa was supplying drugs in Harrogate.

He was already the subject of two separate investigations into his involvement in the supply of cannabis and was under a suspended sentence due to being previously found in possession of a large quantity of cannabis.

North Yorkshire Police’s Operation Expedite drugs team spotted him getting into a car that they later intercepted on King’s Road, Harrogate.

The vehicle contained three occupants including Mkutchwa, who was a passenger. Following a search of him, officers recovered multiple deal bags of white powder, which when tested were found to be 13 bags of cocaine and 10 bags of suspected ketamine.

Mkutchwa was arrested and taken into custody. During a further search of a property where he was staying in Harrogate, officers found more bags containing cocaine and ketamine and a set of scales. The total value of all drugs seized was approximately £2,250.

He was subsequently charged with possessing cocaine and ketamine with intent to supply and remanded into custody. He appeared at York Crown Court on June 13 where he pleaded guilty to both offences from May 2023.

On December 19, he appeared at York Magistrates Court and pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing cannabis with intent to supply. For these two offences, Mkutchwa was in possession of cannabis which when sold on the streets would have a value of up to £11,035. He also had cash to the value of £1,085.

Drugs recovered by police.

‘One less person spreading misery in Harrogate’

Investigating officer PC Michael Haydock of the Operation Expedite team, said:

“Mkutchwa has been dealing illegal substances for many years and has used others to assist in his criminal activity, putting himself above them in an attempt to distance himself from street level drug dealing. Not only that, he has continued to offend despite being given a suspended sentence and whilst under investigation for identical offences.

“For Mkutchwa, this has now come to an end and he is one less person who spreads misery on the streets of Harrogate. His actions, and that of anyone else involved in supplying illegal substances, are the cause of so many other crimes which are often committed by those desperate to fund a drug habit that he facilitates.

“He now has a significant period of time to reflect on his criminal behaviour and hopefully he will see the error of his ways.”

No drugs were found on the other two occupants of the car and no further was taken against them.

The sentencing judge commended the three officers who worked on the investigation, including PC Haydock, for their “utmost professionalism and integrity” and for “overcoming an array of difficulties to secure conviction”, as well as their “outstanding investigative skills and attention to detail to ensure this case was brought to conviction”.

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Drug dealer has 16 months added to sentence given for stabbing in Harrogate

A violent drug dealer has been jailed for dealing cannabis – just two months after receiving a long prison term for stabbing a man in Harrogate with a knife.

William Boam, 23, from Harrogate, was driving a Citroen C3 which was stopped by police in Tadcaster in September 2021, York Crown Court heard.

They found six large plastic bags in the glove box containing over 27g of cannabis, along with two mobile phones and cash.

Boam was arrested and bailed, but in March 2022 the fire service was called out to his then home in Knaresborough after neighbours reported smoke coming from the property, said prosecutor Brooke Morrison.

She added:

“When [firefighters] attended they found no fire but found the defendant in his living room with large quantities of cannabis, so they called police.”

Officers arrived and found Boam in the living room surrounded by drug packaging and sheets of “branded stickers”, some of which he had placed on dealer bags. Ms Morrison said:

“Police found a further quantity of cannabis in tubs in the kitchen.”

They found a total 256g of cannabis in the property, worth an estimated £785 if sold on the street. The total amount of drugs seized from both the property and Boam’s vehicle was worth just under £1,000.

Boam was arrested again and, despite the amount of cannabis found at his home, told officers the drugs were for his own personal use.

Ms Morrison said that Boam appeared to be operating a one-man drug enterprise in which he packaged, distributed and sold the drugs on the street.

Boam had 13 previous convictions for 17 offences including drug supply in 2016, producing cannabis in 2017, arson and serious violence.

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In March this year he was jailed for two years and seven months for wounding causing grievous bodily harm, assault, carrying a knife and breaching a suspended prison sentence.

That incident, which can now be reported, occurred in October 2022, when Boam was still at large following his arrest for the drug matters and subject to a two-month suspended sentence for assaulting an emergency worker.

The victim was at his friend’s flat in Harrogate when Boam rang the doorbell asking to be let in. They refused but Boam threatened to kick the door, so they let him in.

He started shouting at the named victim who threw him out of the flat. About 20 minutes later, the two friends went to get some beer from a supermarket and, on their return, they bumped into Boam outside a homeless hostel in Bower Street where he was living at the time.

Boam punched and headbutted the victim’s friend and demanded his beer, then put his hand in his pocket “as if to indicate he was carrying a weapon”.

He then pulled a knife out and the victim’s friend ran away, chased by Boam. The victim came to his friend’s aid but as he tried to intervene, Boam “lunged” at him and thrust the knife into his stomach. He then “swung” the knife at him again and caught the victim on the arm, before running off.

The victim was taken to hospital where he had staples to close the stab wound to his stomach wall and three stitches to the wound on his upper arm.

Defence barrister Natalie Banks said that Boam had a “very difficult” upbringing and mental health problems.

Recorder Dapinder Singh KC jailed Boam for a further 16 months for the drug offences – a reduced sentence for reasons of “totality” because he was already serving a sentence of nearly three years for serious violence.