A teenager has been sentenced after being caught dealing Class A drugs from a taxi in Oldham town centre.

Barry Stott, 19, of Whitecar Avenue, Manchester appeared at Minshull Street Crown Court on Tuesday (April 4) after pleading guilty to possessing heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply and possessing cannabis and a scalpel.

Prosecutor Simon Barrett told the court how in January of this year police were on duty in Oldham looking for a man wanted on recall from prison when they noticed two men on the junction of Henshaw Street and Naylor Street, one being Stott.

Stott was in the back of a taxi and an exchange took place between him and the other man.

There was a “short struggle” between Stott and the police, and the 19-year-old was arrested.

He was found in possession of 80 wraps of crack cocaine and heroin, a small amount of cannabis, two phones, a scalpel, and £429 in cash.

The drugs were later found to have a total value of more than £800.

Mr Barrett told the court that the prosecution’s case was that Stott was a “street dealer of Class A drugs operating a drugs line”.

The court heard that Stott had one previous conviction for the possession of a knife and was breaching a community order when he was arrested in Oldham.

In mitigation, defence barrister Saul Brody said Stott “performed a limited function” and a “lesser role” in the drug’s operation and was “under direction”.

He told the court that Stott has been “supplying end users” but was working for somebody else who Stott was “unwilling or unable to name”.

The court heard that when police seized Stott’s phone following his arrest a message was found that read, “I’ll clap you round your head if you carry on ignoring the ting, I’ll take the line of you”.

Mr Brody said that the message was “clear evidence” that Stott was working for somebody else and that it included a “threat of violence” and a warning that Stott could lose his role within the operation.

He added that Stott had told him that he used the scalpel to “separate pieces of crack cocaine”.

Addressing Stott while passing sentence, judge Tina Landale said: “You are only 19 years of age and getting up to some very serious crime.

“It is your first time in custody, and it is a terrible situation for a young man of 19 years of age.”

She noted that Stott was found in possession of a “burner phone” when arrested to help him “sell as much as possible” and a “lot of money” showing it was a successful operation.

Judge Landale said she accepted that Stott was not “the brains” behind the operation and was working for somebody else.

She said that his young age was in his favour and gave him credit for his guilty pleas sentencing him to two years in a young offenders institution.