A DRUG dealer has been jailed for three and a half years after police found paraphernalia in his Reading home.

Mark Robinson, of Edinburgh Road, was sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Friday (March 24) for the possession of cocaine and heroin with the intent to supply and for possession of criminal property.

The 47-year-old was charged after his home was searched in December 2022 and January 2023 this year.

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During the first search, officers found £2,427 in cash, cut up pieces of cling film, scales with white residue and tubs of bicarbonate of soda. 

The court heard during the search that Robinson was reaching for a Nokia phone which police assumed he was doing in attempts to erase messages.

Drug messages were later found on the phone in relation to a drug line named ‘Marlow’.

Robinson was arrested under investigation but was subject to a search again in January in which a second phone was found in a safe under his bed with further drug messages as well as high value watches and more drug paraphernalia.

The court heard that Robinson has eight previous convictions for 17 offences, some of which are drug related.

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In mitigation, the court heard that Robinson has taken multiple courses during custody include a ‘motivation to change’ course and three separate courses about ‘taking control in terms [of drugs]’.

Over CVP link, Robinson said: “I’m in detox and I’m doing everything I can to better myself.”

The defendant also informed the court that his mother was in a hospital in Jamaica and he hoped to be released in time to visit her while her prognosis is uncertain.

Sentencing, Recorder Janine Kirsty Brimelow KC said: “Mr Robinson you are a man with a considerable offending history.

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“I take into account that there was pressure on you in terms of the drug dealing world. However, drug dealing in Class A drugs brings with it a whole range of risks on yourself and these risks often fall out and involve members of the public.

“So it’s  hard to say you being under pressure as a mitigation so I focus on the progress you’ve made in prison and your family situation.”

He was sentenced to three and a half years in prison as well as a second 42 month sentence to run concurrently for count two and a third sentence of two months to also run concurrently for the criminal property count.