Student forced into dealing deadly drugs to remove 'bounty' from his head

Nabil Ahmed, who already sold cannabis and mephedrone, was told to expand his business to sell potentially deadly Ecstasy so he could make enough money topay off the £2,000 price put on him.Newcastle Crown Court heard the 20-year-old was also warned that his deeply religious and respectable family would be informed about his involvement in thedrugs world if he did not carry on selling to customers.Ahmed, of Eden House Road, Sunderland, who is now at university, pleaded guilty to three charges of conspiracy to supply drugs.The court heard his involvement in the drugs trade resulted from his own habit, which he needed to fund.Jennifer Coxon, defending, told the court: "A friend told him there was a £2,000 bounty on his head because he liked a Facebook post which included a child being bullied."He was told he could essentially pay off that £2,000 bounty by selling these drugs (ecstasy) on behalf of his friend."Prosecutor Emma Dowling told the court Ahmed already had a "number of customers" who he was dealing class B cannabis and mephedrone to but textsfound on his mobile phone showed he was later put under "some pressure".Mrs Justice Whipple sentenced Ahmed to two years imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, with rehabilitation requirements and a three month curfew from 8pmto 8am.The judge told him: "Your offending breaks down into two phases. "From July 2015 to about October you started dealing drugs on your own account."Regrettably, in October 2015 to August 2016 you embarked on larger scale dealing, largely because you became involved with another person."There is a suggestion, to some extent, you were persuaded to comply with the requests because he was aggressive towards you."The court heard Ahmed has never been in trouble before and provided the court with a number of references to his ordinarily positive character.Miss Coxon said Ahmed is ashamed and embarrassed by his behaviour and hopes to become an engineer after his studies.The court heard Ahmed has now stopped using drugs completely.