A DRUG dealer who had more than £200 worth of heroin strapped to the cheeks of his bottom has been sentenced to two years in a young offender institution.

Yahya Yalahow was arrested on December 5 last year after police did a welfare check on a vulnerable resident in Basingstoke.

When officers entered the house, the 18-year-old was sat in the lounge, Winchester Crown Court heard on Friday.

Prosecutor Kerry Maylin said: “When officers asked him what he was doing, he replied 'charging my phone'.

“There was no sign of a phone, but there was a cannabis grinder on the table.”

Ms Maylin told the court that officers searched the teenager and found three wraps of crack cocaine on him, which had a street value of £30.

The 18-year-old was then taken to Basingstoke police station where he was strip searched for further drugs and officers found £290 worth of heroin strapped to his bottom.

Ms Maylin added: “The defendant was found with two phones on him, an iPhone and a basic Samsung phone.

“The iPhone was clearly a personal phone, but messages on the Samsung phone are those commonly found with drug dealings.”

Yalahow, of Streatham Place, south London, had pleaded guilty to two counts of being in possession of a Class A drug with the intent to sell at an earlier hearing.

Defending Yalahow, Lance Whiteford told the court that the defendant had come to the UK from Somalia at eight-years-old, and had a tough upbringing after going into care.

Mr Whiteford said: “He was sent to school barely having a grasp of the English language, and like any youngster he craved to be part of things.

“Unfortunately, he fell in with the wrong crowd.”

In sentencing, Judge Keith Cutler QC, told the court that Yalahow’s age and early plea aided him in reducing the length of the imprisonment.

Judge Cutler said: “You know what you were doing was wrong, and you were no doubt following instructions which had been passed on by others.

“But you have shown signs that you obviously have the skills and abilities to make something of your life.”

Yalahow was sentenced to two years in a young offenders institution, with Judge Cutler also ordering forfeiture and destruction of the drugs and the Samsung phone.