A County Lines dealer is facing jail after police stopped him in a hired Mercedes on the outskirts of Axminster.

 

Kareem Edwards-Lowton was not carrying any drugs but police found two phones in the car which had been used to offer heroin and cocaine and arrange deliveries.

 

He claimed that neither phone belonged to him but police found 75 selfies on one and a top-up receipt for the other. Detectives were able to check the CCTV from the shop and saw him making the £5 transaction.

 

Edwards-Lowton gave the false name of Delroy Edwards and a made-up date of birth but police managed to confirm his true identity within hours.

 

He told officers he was driving to Exeter to visit a cousin but was unable to name them or say where they lived. He claimed the iPhone which contained his selfies belonged to a friend.

 

Edwards-Lowton, aged 31, of Camberwell, London, denied two counts of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs but was found guilty by a jury at Exeter Crown Court.

 

Judge David Evans adjourned sentence until the New Year and ordered a probation pre-sentence report.

 

Edwards-Lowton is almost certainly facing a jail sentence because his offence carries a starting point of four and a half years if he is found to have played a significant role.

 

Mr Dan Pawson-Pounds, prosecuting, said Edwards-Lowton was stopped at Axminster at 10.45 pm on November 14, 2018, and two phones were found in the black Mercedes.

 

One was an iPhone with a cracked screen which contained not only selfies of Edwards-Lowton but also appointments for unpaid community work and probation appointments in London.

 

There were also messages on the phone arranging delivery of £65 worth of drugs to a customer who described his location as CTown and was probably in Essex.

 

The other phone was an Alcatel which had sent a bulk message to known drug users in Exeter and East Devon offering to supply heroin and crack. A receipt for a £5 top-up was found on the back seat.

 

It had been bought at a newsagent’s shop in Camberwell, London, a few hours earlier and CCTV showed that Edwards-Lowton was the customer.

 

Edwards-Lowton told the jury he gave false details to the police because he was a disqualified driver and did not want to be arrested. He said the iPhone belonged to a friend he knew only as CJ.

 

He said he had sofa-surfed at CJ’s flat in Camberwell and had used his phone as a contact point with probation while living there. He also used the phone to send images to the mother of his young child.

 

He said he knew nothing about the drug messages and had not been planning to sell drugs on his trip to Devon. He insisted he had a relative who lived in Exeter and who he was going to take back to London.

 

Edwards-Lowton told the jury the Alcatel had nothing to do with him but that CJ and another man he did not know had sat in the back of the car before he left London for the trip to Devon.

 

He said he stopped outside the newsagent to buy a drink and asked the others in the car if they wanted anything. CJ’s friend gave him a card and £5 to top up the phone.