A south Essex man who says he was forced to deal drugs through a job on a traveller site has walked free on a suspended sentence.
Tyler Flynn, 20, of Hereford Walk, Basildon, was caught with 59 wraps of Class A drugs as he tried to flee a property where police later found a machete, a flick knife and a baseball bat.
He was carrying 49 wraps of heroin and 10 of cocaine in a man bag, said prosecutor George Penny.
The bag also contained £1,475 in cash.
Mr Penny said Flynn had played a “significant role” in the drugs trafficking operation, given “the quantity of wraps found, combined with what is a relatively large sum of cash”.
“Either it’s Mr Flynn’s own operation or he’s operating on behalf of another but with an awareness of the scale of the operation of which he was a part,” he said.
Flynn was intercepted as he bolted out of the back door when Essex Police executed a warrant on a property in Lincoln Road, near Northlands Park, on June 30.
Two officers had been sent around the back in case anybody tried to escape and Flynn ran straight into them, scuffling with the police before surrendering.
He told officers he had a flick knife on him but when searched, he didn’t.
A search team later found the flick knife and other weapons inside the property, as well as drugs paraphernalia.
Flynn answered “no comment” to all questions in his police interview but later pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing a Class A drug with intent to supply and one count of possessing criminal property (the cash).
He appeared at Basildon Crown Court for sentence on Friday (September 18), where Judge John Bristow was told Flynn was not being prosecuted over the weapons.
In his probation pre-sentence interview, the court heard, Flynn gave a detailed account of how he said he had become involved.
Defence barrister Chris Martin said his client had been inducted through what began as “legitimate employment”.
“Through his then girlfriend, he was introduced to work which is described as at a traveller site,” said the lawyer.
“He was initially undertaking clearance and maintenance work. He was then asked to deliver packages and in effect was pressured into doing that which he was arrested for.
“He felt intimidated by those with whom he was involved. Individuals had become confrontational when he tried to stand up for himself and refuse to do that which he was asked.”
Flynn had now severed all contact with those associates, said Mr Martin.
Although currently unemployed, he had formerly had jobs as a landscape gardener and with his dad’s scaffolding firm, until a shoulder injury forced him to stop.
He was now training to work in construction and had an exam the following week, as long as he wasn’t in prison, the lawyer said.
Character references from family, friends and former colleagues described him as “a kind, caring and respectful individual”.
Judge Bristow said Flynn’s sentence after a trial would have been three years, but he was entitled to a third off because he admitted his guilt at his first court appearance.
He sentenced Flynn to two years in prison, suspended for two years.
He must complete 40 rehabilitation activity days with the probation service and 150 hours of unpaid work.
If he breached either requirement or committed any offence in the next two years, warned the judge, Flynn would be sent to prison.
“It is troubling to read in the [probation] report that you consume and therefore possess the control Class B drug cannabis,” he said.
“I make it very plain to you that that is also an offence.”
The drugs and weapons would be destroyed, said Judge Bristow, and the £1,475 surrendered to the court and donated to charity.
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