A TEENAGER appeared back in court after police stopped him in a car which reeked of cannabis.
Zakaria Deghayes was seen swerving across Eastern Road in Brighton by officers in the early hours of the morning.
Police believed he had been speeding in a Vauxhall Corsa, and when they checked a national register they found he was uninsured.
They said Deghayes’ pupils “appeared dilated” and they said the registration plate was “hanging” on the front of the car and not fixed on properly.
He tried to run away from the officers who wanted to search him under the Misuse of Drugs Act, but they caught him and brought him down with batons.
The 19-year-old is the cousin to the murdered Abdul Deghayes and brothers Amer, Abdullah, and Jaffar Deghayes who went to Syria to fight in the civil war against the regime of Bashar Al-Assad.
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At Hove Crown Court, Deghayes admitted obstructing a police officer and driving without insurance.
It was revealed he was in breach of a suspended sentence imposed in May last year for possessing cannabis with intent to supply.
Officers had found him in possession of 160 grams worth of the class B drug, with a street value of between £1,600 and £3,200.
At the time of the offence, when he was aged 17, phone records showed he had been arranging drug deals.
Deghayes spent most of last year under an electronically monitored curfew for the offence.
Richard Cherrill, prosecuting, said officers stopped him on December 13 at 1.30am.
The car had an “overpowering” smell of cannabis, and Deghayes’ cousin was also inside the vehicle.
Judge Jeremy Gold QC decided that because Deghayes had met most of the conditions of the suspended sentence, he would not be sent to prison immediately for breaching it.
He told Deghayes: “You are walking a tightrope. This is your last chance.”
The court was told that Deghayes has been working with social workers and probation to steer clear of the drugs world.
He is studying a business course and doing well at Brighton Metropolitan College, and hopes to go to university.
Hollie Collinge, defending, said it is perhaps best to allow him to continue working towards his goal, rather than packing him off to a young offenders institution for a couple of months.
Deghayes, of Chichester Drive West, Saltdean, was ordered to continue on his community order and to pay a £50 fine for driving without insurance.
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