A Carlisle drug dealer caught out after police watched him sending criminal price lists to another man on Snapchat before finding a debtors’ names and amounts in the notes section of his own device has been jailed for more than six years.
Large sums of money were listed on the handset of Kyle Ronnie David Peebles, including one for £67,520, the city’s crown court heard yesterday.
Peebles, 23, was initially stopped in possession of a small amount of cannabis in Rickerby Park in February this year.
But his involvement in large-scale drug dealing then emerged on April 10. Initially, police found a significant quantity of cannabis inside another man’s car on Castle Way. That male fled but he left behind his phone on which officers saw Snapchat messages arriving from Rusty — Peebles’ nickname — which contained drugs price lists hinting at large available quantities. One officer took photos as these came through.
Two days later, police arrested Peebles, seizing and analysing his mobile phone. This revealed evidence of cocaine and cannabis supply, the debt list and threatening messages indicative of a dealer chasing money.
On May 5, during a two-minute call to a male, Peebles made a host of chilling threats: to “put a bullet between your eyes”; “chop you up”; “kill you”; “run you over and reverse over you”; and “set you on fire”.
By coincidence, police were at the man’s house at that time. An officer recorded a second call from Peebles minutes later in which the violent intimidation towards the man and family members was repeated.
His distressed victim later said: “I’m in fear in my own home.”
Peebles, of Merith Avenue, Carlisle, admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine and cannabis, possessing the class B drug and making threats to kill.
Peebles’ barrister spoke another side to the defendant who, he said, was “once and for all keen to sort himself out”.
Judge Richard Archer jailed Peebles for six years, five months. “This was a serious drug-dealing operation,” said Judge Archer, who added: “What I am being told this morning is that you were seeking to operate in a big boys’ world, and you weren’t quite the big boy that other people thought you were.”
Peebles was banned from contacting the male to whom he made threats, for five years.
