A drug dealer who carried on selling drugs even after being arrested, and had more than £127,000 of unexplained deposits in his bank account, has been jailed. Raza Hussain, 26, was given bail after being caught once, but within months he was back to dealing, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
First arrest and bail
On 13 May 2023, police stopped a Seat Leon on West Road, Newcastle. They had information linking the car to drug activity. Three people were in the vehicle, with Hussain in the back seat. Officers detected a strong smell of cannabis and saw Nitrous Oxide canisters in the passenger footwell. There was a tub containing ten bags of cocaine worth around £500 and a Pringles container holding £745 in cash.
Hussain was arrested but managed to slip out of handcuffs and flee, although he was chased down and caught. His mobile phone was seized and showed he had been dealing various drugs. He had sent numerous promotional messages offering drugs for sale and incentives for people introducing new customers. He also claimed he had drivers working for him who would deliver deals.
Between January 2022 and May 2023, £42,624 of unexplained third-party credits entered his bank account. For those offences, Hussain admitted being involved in the supply of MDMA, cannabis and ketamine, possessing cocaine with intent to supply, transferring criminal property and possessing criminal property.
Second arrest and further dealing
Having been granted bail, he was back to selling drugs within a few months. Just after 9pm on 10 November 2023, police saw a man enter a Fiat 500 driven by Kirstie Stewart on Waterloo Street, Newcastle. Hussain was in the back, and the car was driven around the corner, where the other man got out. He was stopped and searched and found to be carrying cocaine, which he claimed he had just bought for £100, and he gave the dealer's number to police.
Police had followed the Fiat, which stopped near Hussain's home, and he was apprehended. Officers found 25 bags of cocaine weighing approximately 8.5g, £721 in cash and two mobile phones. Stewart had two wraps of cocaine concealed in her bra and a small quantity of cannabis. A search of Hussain's home yielded £2,990 in cash, and his phone revealed he had been dealing cocaine, ketamine and cannabis.
Between May 2023 and March 2025, there were unaccounted deposits into Hussain's account totalling £84,967. Stewart had contacted Hussain in November 2023 asking when she could start working for him, saying she needed money.
Sentences and background
Hussain pleaded guilty to supplying cocaine, being involved in the supply of cannabis and ketamine, transferring criminal property and possessing criminal property. Stewart, 29, of Hunters Place, Spital Tongues, Newcastle, admitted being involved in the supply of cocaine. Hussain was sentenced to four years in prison; Stewart received a 21-month sentence, suspended for two years with 200 hours of unpaid work. A timetable under the Proceeds of Crime Act was set and will be dealt with later.
Jane Foley, representing Hussain, described him as immature at the time and said: "Following the death of his father he descended into substance misuse, gambling and associating with wholly inappropriate peers." She said he accumulated drug debts and resorted to dealing under pressure from those he owed. She added: "It explains how this previously promising young man came to involve himself in serious criminality. Those circumstances no longer exist." Since his arrest he has abstained from drugs and alcohol, returned to his faith, done voluntary work, and supports his mother, who has chronic ill-health.
Penny Hall, representing Stewart, said: "Her involvement was on one occasion only. There was no actual supply by her." She added that Stewart had been pressured into it by a partner, not Hussain.
