A student who claimed he was drug dealing to pay his university fees was yesterday jailed for four years and 145 days.
Yussuf Adedeji, 20, who was studying at Robert Gordon’s University in Aberdeen, was caught after he threw a rucksack containing drugs and his McDonalds staff discount card out of a window.
Adedeji, who is Nigerian, was held after a raid at his flat in Belmont Road, Aberdeen, on July 8 this year.
Police subsequently seized £140,000 of illegal substances for the rucksack and his flat, including cocaine, ecstasy, cannabis, ketamine and a tranqulizer called alprazolam.
At the High Court in Glasgow, Adedeji, who was undertaking a surveying course at RGU, pled guilty to a string of drug supply charges.
Aberdeen student drug dealer caught when police found his McDonald’s discount card
Yesterday, judge Lord Burns told Adedeji: “You appear to have deliberately involved yourself in drug dealing for a three-month period and you did so to get money for your study activities.
“You were on a visa which allowed you to stay in this country and not to get involved in drug dealing.”
The court heard that after being charged and released on bail and ordered to hand over his passport within 24 hours, Adedeji tried to flee the country on July 12.
He first called police to claim he had been abducted and robbed and then used his temporary freedom to attempt to flee the country, boarding a bus to London en-route to a flight that would have taken him to Nigeria.
Police were able to stop the bus as it arrived in Lancaster and he was subsequently held before being taken back to Scotland.
Lord Burns jailed Adedeji for four years on the drugs charges and a further 145 days for his attempt to flee the country.
Defence counsel Graham Robertson said: “He has no previous convictions. He says he fled because he was scared.
“He had just completed his first year at university and made a wrong decision that he must now pay for. He tells me he did it to get money for his university course.”
Adedeji was caught after police got a tip-off that he may have chucked a bag of drugs out his window.
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Prosecutor Eric Robertson said a rucksack was then discovered near his flat. As well as drugs inside, a wallet was also found with items linked to Adedeji.
The prosecutor added: “There was a McDonalds discount card belonging to him as well as student identification.”
The court heard Adedeji had previously had “occasional” work at the burger chain.
Text messages on Adedeji’s phone showed he had been involved in drug dealing.
Lord Burns told Adedeji he would be automatically deported after he serves his sentence.
