Dad-of-three dealer had designer clothes, shoes, watches and thousands in cash
A Derbyshire dad-of-three with “an unusual fascination with money” was found with designer shoes, clothes and watches worth thousands of pounds. Derby Crown Court heard how £25,000 in cash was also discovered when they searched the property linked to Harvey Yeomans.
After being arrested, the 31-year-old admitted to officers he had turned to selling cocaine after losing his job when he failed a random drugs test at work. Now his long-term partner and three children, aged under 10, will be without him as he sits out a prison sentence.
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Jailing him for three years, Recorder Charles Thomas said: “The reality of this offence is that you had been dealing drugs for one-to-two years and that began after things started to go wrong for you.
“You lost your job because you failed a drugs test and you chose to deal regularly on a constant basis.
“From it you were able to save in the region of £25,000 in cash and you carried on dealing.
“I have seen letters from members of your family who say you have a compulsion to accumulate money as a result of a personality trait you have had for some time.”
Melissa Morton, prosecuting, said police spotted a white Kia Sportage being driven by the defendant in Woodville, Swadlincote, just after 4pm on April 8, this year.
She said they watched as it pulled into a service station and saw what officer believed to be a drug deal take place between Yeomans and a van driver.
The prosecutor said: “He was taken to a police station and there he gave two addresses, one being his parents where he had not resided for some time and the second being his partner’s address.
“In the kitchen at the second one was a large quantity of cocaine.
“There was 4.38g and a smaller chunk of white rock and then one large 74g rock as well as £515 in cash.
“In a bedroom was some £24,360, designer clothes, shoes and watches.
“Receipts showed the shoes had cost in the region of thousands.
“In his interview he said he had lost his job and decided to sell drugs to make money.”
Yeomans, of Ashby Road, Swadlincote, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply a class A drug and possession of criminal property – namely the cash.
He has eight convictions for 12 offences but nothing relating to drugs, Miss Morton said.
Steve Cobley, mitigating, said family members and a work colleague were in the public gallery to support his client, who has been in custody since his arrest.
He said: “Can I say from the outset that Mr Yeomans and those who support him in court today know it is going to be an immediate custody.
“Mr Yeomans was working and earning a good wage but during lockdown his drug use increased.
“There was a random drug check at work and he lost his employment.
“He was offered an easy way to make money (selling drugs) but we all know there’s no easy way.
“He has an unusual fascination with money and he’s reflected on what he did while in custody and how they way he behaved will affect his three young children aged eight, four and two and his long-term partner of some nine years.”