Drug dealers caught due to suspicious driving
Northumbria PoliceTwo drug dealers who were caught when their driving attracted the suspicions of police have been jailed.
Richard Bathgate's BMW came to the attention of officers on the A1 near Berwick-upon-Tweed in October, with drugs and a warm crack pipe found in the car, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
He and passenger Emma Todd admitted possessing cocaine and heroin with intent to supply, being concerned in supplying Class A drugs for a year and concealing almost £69,000 in criminal gains.
Bathgate, 49, from Rothbury, and Todd, 42, from Morpeth, were each jailed for two years and seven months.
Bathgate was stopped "due to the speed he was travelling" about two and half miles (4km) south of Berwick at about 19:40 BST on 8 October 2023, prosecutor Kevin Wardlaw said.
At his Northumberland home, more drugs were found and a debtors list with some 40 names on it with debts ranging from £20 to £190, the court heard.
A check of their banking showed almost £45,000 of "unexplained deposits" had been made in Bathgate's account in the previous 12 months and about £24,000 in Todd's, the court heard.
Recorder Richard Stubbs said both were street level dealers and the pair had been a couple who took drugs themselves.
