An enthusiastic young cannabis dealer earned himself rave reviews from fans as “the best stockist in the area” – and his highly delighted customers gave him glowing ratings for the drugs supply service that he provided.
Jordan Steen ran a “small cottage industry” for about three years and he had “quite a decent reputation” as a cannabis supplier. He was “quite good at it” – but his high approval ratings were “not independently verified on Trustpilot”.
His customers were particularly impressed that he had access to “different branded strains of cannabis” and he would even provide a personal delivery service for them in his own car, Hull Crown Court heard.
Steen, 26, of Denaby Court, off Holderness Road, east Hull, admitted being concerned in supplying cannabis between January 6, 2019 and June 14, 2021. He also admitted being concerned in supplying diazepam on January 25, 2020.
Samantha Laws, prosecuting, said that the offences were discovered after Steen was arrested on an unrelated, more serious matter. He was not charged in relation to that. His two phones were seized and examined.
They were “littered with an abundance” of drug-dealing messages concerning cannabis supply in the east Hull area and, from the positive comments and his high approval ratings from users, he was “deemed to be the best stockist in the area”.
Judge Richard Woolfall said that Steen’s high approval ratings were presumably “not independently verified on Trustpilot” – and he asked who it was who described Steen as “the best stockist in the area”. Defence barrister Amber Hobson said that the description was the opinion of the female police officer who had analysed the drug messages from buyers. There must have been “plenty of people” who were impressed with him.
Miss Laws said that Steen seemed to be well regarded because he was supplying “different branded strains of cannabis”. He would weigh and bag the cannabis at home and drop it off to users in his car. If he was working, his then girlfriend would deliver the cannabis for him.
“The defendant was managing his drug dealing business and he had established a strong customer base and had supplied cannabis for around three years at the time of his arrest,” said Miss Laws. “He was also a supplier of diazepam.” He did not often sell this, however.
During police interview, Steen denied any involvement in the dealing and claimed that there would not be any evidence on the phones. He did provide the PIN for one of the phones and there was no PIN for the other. During a later interview, he made no comment to all questions.
Miss Hobson, mitigating, said that Steen pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing before Hull Magistrates’ Court. He had no previous convictions, he was working full-time and he had a five-year-old daughter.
Judge Woolfall said that Steen was using cannabis at the time and, to fund his habit, he started selling the drug. “It appears that you were quite good at it because the expert who accessed your phone saw that there were an abundance of drug dealing messages,” said Judge Woolfall.
“It wasn’t a terribly sophisticated operation because either you dropped off the drugs or your partner at the time did. It was clear that you had quite a decent reputation because you were able to supply different strains of cannabis. You were branded as the best stockist in the area.
“I don’t think that means that you were the biggest criminal in the area. It means that you had access to quite a wide number of different strains of cannabis. It was a small cottage industry.”
Some people thought that cannabis was a relatively harmless drug but it could have a profound impact on people’s lives for the worse. It was now regarded as “the equivalent of taking a shot of whisky” but it could lead to paranoia.
“Many people have to commit crime to fund their addiction,” said Judge Woolfall. “You were dealing for three years, which is quite a significant period.
“Of the operation you were running, you did have a management function. It was street dealing. You were doing it for three years and you were doing it with some enthusiasm.
“You have reached out for help and obtained a counsellor. You have demonstrated that your life is not being defined by this.” The diazepam dealing was on one occasion as a one-off sale.
Steen was given a one-year suspended prison sentence and 150 hours’ unpaid work. He was ordered to pay £150 costs.