A TATTOOED drug dealer has been warned he faces jail after he admitted selling heroin in a seaside town for the second time in two years.
Shane Riley, who has a distinctive tattoo across his face, pleaded guilt to the possession of heroin with intent to supply when he appeared at Exeter Crown Court.
Riley, aged 43, of Hermosa Road, Teignmouth, also admitted personal possession of cannabis and having a knuckleduster when he was arrested in New Quay Street, Teignmouth on July 7.
Judge Peter Johnson adjourned his case for a probation report but warned him he faced an immediate jail sentence because he is in breach of a suspended sentence, imposed in 2016 for an identical offence.
He granted him bail and said: ‘He can make peace with his family and make preparations for what appears on the face of it to be an inevitable custodial sentence.’
Mr Ramsey Quaife, defending, said Riley may be suitable for drug rehabilitation as an alternative to immediate custody.
Riley received a two-year suspended sentence and was sent on a drug rehabilitation course in November 2016 after he was caught selling heroin from his caravan.
He had more than £1,000 of drugs hidden in his body and £230 cash. He was a heavy user and planned to consume much of the heroin himself.
At the previous hearing Recorder Ms Elizabeth Bussey-Jones told him: ‘If you commit further offences, there will not be the same leniency.’
That case arose because Riley’s caravan was searched by police on August 12, 2015.
He produced a small amount of herbal cannabis from his shorts and officers seized £247 cash and later recovered two bags of drugs from his body. One contained 625 grams of uncut heroin and the other 4.32 grams which had been divided into 20 street deals.
The total value of the drugs was estimated at £1,200 and £1,400 depending on how the heroin was cut and whether the wraps sold for £10 or £20. Scales and plastic bags were also found.