Drug dealing teen 'fearful of reprisals' avoids jail after curfew kept him at home

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A teenager coerced into running a drugs line has been spared a custodial sentence after spending more than 18 months on a tagged curfew. Terrel Tonge was 19 when he ran the phone line, organising deliveries of high-purity cocaine and heroin to people in Leicester.

Tonge played the key role in the drug business between April 2022 until January 2023, sending "runners" out to deliver the drugs and receive the cash. When he was arrested Tonge, of Heather Road, Knighton, Leicester, was found with £2,350 in cash.

At first he pleaded not guilty to the two charges of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs. But then he changed his plea to guilty after a judge warned him he faced losing his one-third discount off his sentence for a guilty plea.

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At Leicester Crown Court on Monday (October 7), Judge Keith Raynor told Tonge's barrister, Katya Saudek, that he planned to follow the recommendation of a pre-sentence report and give Tonge a community order. She said she had nothing else to add.

The judge told Tonge, who is now 22: "Your offending was taking place when you were 19 years old. You were pressurised into keeping the phone. You were fearful of reprisals to you and your family. You were running the line and the drugs were high purity drugs."

He added that Tonge had since broken ties with the drug gang and was clearly trying to turn his life around. The judge said: "The probation report takes the view you are someone who needs some assistance in taking your life in a new direction.

"You were being groomed by others and are a low risk of harm to members of the public. Custody is a last resort to be considered and the courts have to have regard to the rehabilitation of all defendants."

Judge Raynor said that he would normally consider the case had crossed the custody threshold but that he would give Tonge a community order instead. This was due to the fact he had spent 606 days on tagged curfew - a curfew which required him to be in his house for at least eight hours every night. Each day on curfew counts as half a day in prison, meaning that - if Tonge had been jailed - the judge would have had to reduce his time behind bars by 303 days.

Tonge was given an 18-month community order with 120 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to spend 20 days on probation programmes. A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing will take place next year to decide how much cash and property to confiscate from Tonge.