Man caught with £40,000 of drugs in Range Rover jailed at Lincoln Crown Court

A man who was caught with drugs valued at over £40,000 after police stopped a Range Rover in Lincoln was today (Monday, January 15) jailed for two and half years.

Kyle Bentley, 24, was stopped on West Parade after officers carried out a check on the vehicle during the early hours of November 30, 2020.

Lincoln Crown Court heard police decided to carry out a search of the Range Rover after becoming aware of the smell of cannabis.

Chris Jeyes, prosecuting, said other drugs including cocaine and ketamine were found in the car along with a knife.

"In fairness to Mr Bentley he volunteered the presence of the knife to the officers," Mr Jeyes admitted.

More drugs were found after police searched the address of a female passenger who was also in the Range Rover, the court was told.

This included a large number of ecstasy tablets and over £6,200 in cash which was recovered from the property in Alabala Close, Washingborough.

Further drugs were found in an Ibis hotel room which had been booked by Bentley with his correct name and phone number.

A drugs expert said the amount of drugs found was consistent with "multi-commodity" supply and had a wholesale value of up to £20,000. The street level value of the drugs was estimated at over £40,000.

The court heard Bentley, originally from the Selby area, was already serving a long jail sentence for Section 18 wounding passed in December 2021.

He admitted six charges of possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply, four charges of possessing Class B drugs with intent to supply and having a bladed article.

In mitigation, the court was told Bentley fell into supplying drugs for someone further up the chain and had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

Passing sentence Recorder Simon King said the jail term had been reduced to reflect the fact Bentley was already serving a long prison sentence.

But Recorder King told Bentley he was "plainly quite entrenched" in this drug dealing enterprise.

"It is clear you were part of a relatively large commercial operation," Recorder King added.