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A “greedy” chess player has been jailed after he was caught with gold bullion bars and cocaine worth thousands of pounds.

Lewis Stewart, 22, made at least £20,000 from his illegal drug dealing business and had nearly £35,000 in a safe at his home, York Crown Court heard.

He has a previous conviction for robbery in 2020 when he was a youth.

The Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris, said the UK was the cocaine capital of Europe and he regularly had to sentence those who robbed, burgled and attacked elderly women in the street to pay people like Stewart.

“It is the scourge of society, and you played a significant role,” he said. “What on earth you thought you were doing, I don’t know. The only answer is greed.”

He jailed Stewart for four years. 

Defence barrister Andrew Semple said since his arrest and remand in custody, Stewart had set up a chess club in prison to help other prisoners pass the time.

Rob Galley, prosecuting, said North Yorkshire Police stopped Stewart at the wheel of a small van on the A64 near Tadcaster heading towards York on January 26 this year.

 

 

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