'Immature' Northampton man jailed after being caught with knife and drugs he bought with friends for rave

A Northampton man caught with a knife and crack cocaine he had bought with his friends for a rave was jailed today (Wednesday, November 10).

Zacharia Dayib was arrested after police found him in a car with a lock knife in his footwell in July, before discovering the drugs when they searched him.

The 20-year-old, of Foskitt Court South, Little Billing, was sentenced at Northampton Crown Court to a year imprisonment after previously pleading guilty.

Her Honour Judge Rebecca Crane told him: "You had purchased the 13-grams of cocaine for social use to share with three friends - it was a block purchase of £400 to which you all contributed.

"You thought you were buying cocaine but you were mistakenly given crack cocaine by the dealer."

Thomas Welshman, prosecuting, explained Dayib was found by police in the front passenger seat of a Mercedes with another man in the driver's seat on Queen's Road, Northampton, in the morning of July 27.

The knife was found in the footwell where the defendant was sitting so he was arrested and taken to the police station, where the drugs were recovered as he had tried to conceal them.

"He and his friends had pooled money to buy cocaine for a rave to have for just themselves and they were the people he was going to give it to, not to sell to other users," Mr Welshman said.

Nathalie Carter, defending, asked Judge Crane not to jail Dayib, despite his previous conviction for taking a knife into school aged 12, as she could find it unjust.

The defendant has matured since then and has written a letter apologising to the court and his family for the inconvenience he has caused, she added.

The lawyer said Dayib's first experience of prison on remand for the past three-and-a-half months has been 'traumatic', leading to him suffering from anxiety and depression, as he is younger than most of the other inmates.

Ms Carter said: "I would urge Your Honour to not give further terms of imprisonment as this is his first time and it's been very difficult in the circumstances of Covid-19.

"Trust me Your Honour he won't be back before the courts again."

However, after taking all of the above into account, Judge Crane decided it would not be unjust to keep Dayib in prison, who she described as 'immature' and 'easily led'.

The judge sentenced him to seven months in jail for possessing class A drugs with intent to supply and five months consecutively for possessing a bladed article in a public place.