Man sentenced for drug offences - Reading

Following a Thames Valley Police investigation, a man has been sentenced for drug offences in Reading.

Derek Sarfo, aged 24, of Kennet Side, Reading, pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of class A, namely heroin and cocaine and one count of breach of a suspended sentence in a hearing at Reading Crown Court on 28 April 2023.

At the same court on Thursday (31/8), Sarfo was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for the possession of the class A drugs and one year imprisonment for the breach of suspended sentence, to run consecutively.

Sarfo was also ordered to forfeit £420 cash seized and a destruction order was made for the drugs and phones.

At around 9.40am on 27 April this year a Section 8 PACE warrant was executed at an address in Arthur Place.

Sarfo climbed out of a child's bedroom window and was detained by officers.

Sarfo was searched and was found to be in possession of 50 wraps of crack cocaine and heroin, with an approximate street value of £1000, two phones and around £70 in cash.

A Section 18 premise search was then conducted at Sarfo’s home address in Kennet Side where drug related paraphernalia were recovered, alongside over £340 in cash.

Investigating officer PC Liam Steele, part of the Stronghold team based at Reading, said: “I am pleased to see that this conviction has resulted in a substantial prison sentence. I hope Sarfo can use this time to reflect upon his actions.

“Our Stronghold team will proactively and robustly target and prosecute offenders and our activity will be both visible and covert aimed at disrupting and pursuing offenders involved in the supply of drugs.

“The information from the public around the drug supply offences in Reading plays an important role in developing intelligence into a proactive investigation.

“If you have any information, we would encourage you to report it to us by calling 101 or through the online reporting on our website.”

LW

Notes to Editors:

Updated to the correct surname of Sarfo.