Teen dealer jailed after 'throwing away chance'

Leigthon Finn-Gibbs admitted multiple offences

A teenage drug dealer who had been spared imprisonment after ramming a police car has been jailed for committing more offences.

Leighton Finn-Gibbs, 19, was caught driving while banned and selling drugs in Middlesbrough weeks after a judge gave him an opportunity to turn his life around, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Judge Graham Robinson said the teenager "threw away a chance".

Finn-Gibbs, from Middlesbrough, was jailed for two and a half years after admitting supplying crack cocaine and dangerous driving.

Finn-Gibbs, of Selkirk Close in Middlesbrough, was first seen selling drugs in the town's Albert Park on 2 October 2024, prosecutor Saba Shan said.

He fled from officers but was arrested hiding behind a bush, having dropped £600 worth of cocaine, the court heard.

'Drugs found in coat'

A mobile phone seized from him showed he had been sending messages advertising what he had for sale, with Finn-Gibbs telling officers he was "sorry" and was being "exploited".

Having been released on bail, Finn-Gibbs caught officers' attention again when he rammed a car into the back of a police van causing more than £9,000 worth of damage at about 17:30 GMT on 2 November, Ms Shan said.

Police had gone to Salters Gill Avenue to reports someone had used a chainsaw to fell a lamppost holding a council CCTV camera, the court heard.

On 13 January police raided an address connected to Finn-Gibbs and found almost £6,000 worth of crack cocaine, half of which was in the pocket of a jacket, Ms Shan said.

'Threw away chance'

He appeared at Teesside Crown Court on 8 April and was given a deferred sentence on the condition he worked with probation staff, completed drug rehabilitation and did not commit any more offences, the court heard.

On 14 June, two police officers on bicycles in Middlesbrough saw Finn-Gibbs at the wheel of a VW Golf, in violation of a ban imposed for the earlier dangerous driving, Ms Shan said.

After spotting the officers, Finn-Gibbs drove off at speed the wrong way down a one-way street causing other cars to make emergency stops to avoid a collision, the court heard.

Officers went to arrest him at his home a few days later and found mobile phones which had been used to send messages advertising drugs for sale to more than 100 people, Ms Shan said.

Jailing Finn-Gibbs, Judge Graham Robinson told the teenager: "You threw away a chance."

He was also banned from driving for two years and 37 weeks.