Jail for drug dealer traced after student's death

Police connected messages on the student's phone from "Lean Xan Man" to drug dealer Benjamin Brown

A drug dealer who was tracked down following the death of a Cambridge student has been jailed for more than four years.

Keshava Iyengar, 20, died in a friend's room at Trinity College on 13 March 2021. A coroner later concluded his death was drug-related.

Police connected messages on Mr Iyengar's phone from "Lean Xan Man" to drug dealer Benjamin Brown, 32.

Brown, of Byrefield Road, Guildford, Surrey, pleaded guilty to seven drug offences at Huntingdon Law Courts on Friday.

Police found more than £15,000 in cash and drugs during a search of Brown's home

Mr Iyengar's inquest was told the "well-liked and much-missed" student had "potentially fatal quantities of Xanax in his blood".

He had taken the drug for "high anxiety levels", but was "not reckless" and had not intended to take his own life, coroner Simon Milburn said.

Brown, who described himself as a "pharmacist", sold prescription-only drugs through Instagram and Snapchat, according to Cambridgeshire Police.

He was arrested on 27 July 2021 and a search of his home uncovered drugs, more than £15,000 in cash and sticky labels with his business logo.

Brown pleaded guilty to two counts each of being concerned in the supply of class A and class C drugs, one count regarding the supply of class B, one count in possession of class A drugs and one count in possession with the intent to supply class C.

He received concurrent sentences for the offences and was jailed for four years and six months in total.

The judge described Brown's drug-dealing business as "substantial, sophisticated and lucrative", according to Cambridgeshire Police.

He said he had "profited from the vulnerabilities of others dependant on prescription medication for conditions such as anxiety".

Cambridgeshire Police said it was not possible to prove that Brown's actions caused the death of Mr Iyengar, but he was sentenced for supplying and possessing drugs.

Det Con Dan Harper said: "Drugs ruin lives and there is a reason why some can only be prescribed by a medical professional."