A drug dealer delivering cocaine in Ipswich and a teenage burglar who netted £80,000 worth of goods in a four-year crime spree were locked up in Suffolk this week.
Drug courier delivered bags of cocaine in rental car
Police stopped Mihai Nichitoi along Norwich Road in Ipswich on May 11 this year and he handed officers a UK driving licence and a Romanian ID card.
He was detained for a drugs search and immediately admitted to officers that the identity documents were false, telling officers: "It is not good, it's not me."
David Wilson, prosecuting, said slightly more than a gram of cocaine was found in the rented car along with £130 in cash, and Nichitoi did not have a UK driving licence.
Nichitoi's mobile phone was seized and messages indicative of "a postcode drug dealing model" were discovered.
Nichitoi, of Elm Grove, Southsea, Hampshire, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply class A drugs and possessing fake identity documents before magistrates in Ipswich on May 12.
David Stewart, for Nichitoi, said his client had lost his job at a car wash due to the Covid-19 pandemic and needed money to support his family.
On Wednesday at Ipswich Crown Court, Recorder Heather Rogers QC jailed Nichitoi for a total of 25 months.
Teenage burglar targeted homes across Suffolk
Wesley Spring, 19, stole cars, jewellery and medication after breaking into homes, Ipswich Crown Court heard on Wednesday.
He was arrested in February, for stealing a Chevrolet Lacetti from the Newmarket area, which was spotted in Ipswich and then stopped by police in Lowestoft.
He was charged with two burglaries from homes, a burglary from another building and a dangerous driving offence.
But during the subsequent investigation by Suffolk police's Operation Converter team, Spring confessed to 27 other offences, which were taken into consideration.
That included stealing a Ford Galaxy from Mount Pleasant in Lowestoft in February, and 22 other offences in Lowestoft.
Elsewhere, a Ford Fiesta was taken in a burglary in Tranmere Grove, Ipswich in December 2018.
His offences also included an assault in Ancaster Road, Ipswich in May 2017 and the theft of a Ford Mondeo from Marina Parade in Great Yarmouth in late October/early November 2020.
All the offences took place from May 26, 2017 to February 16, 2021 with his ill-gotten gains valued at £80,000.
Suffolk Police said around £70,000 worth of what he had stolen has been recovered.
Spring, of High Street, Newmarket, was sentenced to 40 months in a young offenders' institute.
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