Hartlepool drug dealer jailed after threatening to smash up police cars so he would be put in a cell

Karl Smith, 37, told a desk officer at Hartlepool Police Station that he wanted to be locked up because his mother had kicked him out and he could not meet the conditions of residence on his bail.

When his request was refused because he had not committed any more crime he made his threats to smash up the cop cars and a window in the station.

It resulted in Smith being arrested and he also got more of a long term wish when he was locked up by a judge when the case was heard at Teesside Crown Court.

Prosecutor Emma Atkinson said: “He walked into Hartlepool Police Station and said that he had been thrown out of his home and that he could not meet the terms of residence on his bail.

“He threatened to damage all the police cars’ windows and a window in the police station if he was not arrested.

“He was arrested for threats to damage. He was in possession of needles but no drugs.

“He said that he effectively wanted to be arrested to make a start on serving his sentence.”

Andrew Teate, defending, said that when Smith was on bail earlier he had twice turned up at court with a backpack trying to decide if he wanted to be remanded in custody.

Mr Teate told the judge: “The relationship with his mother broke down and he was seen by police in the town centre.

“He said ‘I’m homeless please arrest me’. They said they could not take him to the police station because he had not committed any offence but they offered to drive him near to his mother’s home or somewhere else.

“When he walked into the police station later he asked what he had to do to be arrested and he said he would smash a police station window and all the police cars. He had no intention of doing that.

“He admitted to the police that had breached his bail.”Miss Atkinson said that Smith had been arrested in the town centre in June 2018 when officers saw him in a vehicle collecting drugs from a house.

He had a bag containing 12.8 grammes of heroin worth £640, and morphine and buprenophene tablets and a mobile phone.

The case was delayed while the phone was analysed and found to hold drug dealing text messages.

He appeared at Teesside Crown Court over a videolink from Durham Jail after spending 47 days in custody, equal to a 94 days sentence.

Judge Stephen Ashurst said he hoped that Smith would seek the assistance of the Probation Service to tackle his drug and personal problems when he was released.

Smith, formerly of Lealholme Terrace, Hartlepool, was jailed for two years after he pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply heroin, and possession of the other drug tablets.

The judge ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs and the forfeiture of £41 cash.

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