A TEENAGER has been warned he faces at least two years in custody after admitting to police he had 20 wraps of class A drugs on his person.The 17-year-old, from East London, had another six wraps of crack cocaine and heroin in his trouser pocket when police questioned him on November 10.

A TEENAGER has been warned he faces at least two years in custody after admitting to police he had 20 wraps of class A drugs on his person.

The 17-year-old, from East London, had another six wraps of crack cocaine and heroin in his trouser pocket when police questioned him on November 10.

He was found in a house in Ipswich known by police to be connected to drug dealing. He told officers he had never been to Ipswich before, and was just holding the drugs for someone.

The boy and his mother both wept as he was refused bail until his sentencing at Ipswich Magistrates' Court on December 11.

Ian Duckworth, mitigating, said: “He had gone away from home to a different environment and met people who had turned his head.”

He said the defendant knew what he was involved in, but he had not realised what he was letting himself in for if he was caught because that was “glossed over” by the boy who asked him to hold the drugs.

When police arrived looking for the owner of the house in connection with drug offences, they found the defendant sitting alone in the living room.

There was evidence of class A drug use, including needles, in the building. The boy admitted to officers he was wearing two pairs of trousers and he had six wraps in the pocket of the inner pair.

When arrested, he also told police about the larger stash of crack cocaine and heroin. The 26 wraps in total had a street value of about £520.

The boy admitted in interview he knew the person he was holding the drugs for was involved with dealing, and he had been expecting payment of some cash or a new pair of trainers.

The defendant moved to England from Africa aged 11, and lived with his mother and stepfather. Until the age of 16 he went to church every weekend.

When he left school, he moved to the YMCA and decided to go to the local college to pursue his higher education, even though it had a reputation for attracting “bad people.”

It was there that he met another youth, who drove him to Ipswich and who persuaded him to hold the drugs at the house.

He was refused bail on the grounds he would be putting himself and his family in danger by returning home, as the gang who supplied the drugs would believe he owed them money.