County lines drug debt enforcer threatened to 'cut off head' of intended victim after storming Portsmouth address with metal weapon

Croydon dealer Abdul Malin, 21, barged his way into a house on Powerscourt Road, North End, on October 24, 2019, after being tasked to recover a debt by his superiors before ransacking a bedroom upstairs at the address.

After failing in his bid to retrieve money and hunt his target, Malin returned the next day before laying siege to the house once more whilst brandishing a metal weapon, Portsmouth Crown Court heard.

‘You went round to the address looking for the debt to be paid but he was not there. But you did not believe that and went to the bedroom to carry out a search and could not find him or the money he owed,’ judge David Melville QC said.

‘The next day you returned and demanded money after you entered the house and fought with the father (of the intended victim) who was injured.

‘You were enforcing a drug debt and were going to get on a train to London afterwards but you did not obtain the money.’

The judge said the incident must have been an ‘incredibly frightening experience’, before adding: ‘You threatened to cut (the target’s) head off.’

The court heard the father was only left with minor injuries but was ‘shocked’ by the ambush.

Malin’s DNA was later found on his baseball cap that was left at the address following the melee.

Three weeks later on November 19, Malin cuckooed a recovering drug user’s room in a charity house on St Paul’s Road, Southsea - sparking ‘concerns’ from staff who ‘suspected it had been taken over’.

Police attended before apprehending Malin before he was released - but suspicions were aroused with a known drug user’s name appearing on a Nokia phone belonging to the defendant.

Despite being ordered not to return to the address, on January 29 the following year Malin was spotted on stairs there again following a routine visit by police.

After being detained, police discovered suspected drug marketing adverts such as ‘two for £5’ on Malin’s phone.

Malin was finally caught red-handed nearly two months later riding a bike along Vauxhall Bridge Road, London, with Class A drugs on March 12 - bringing his drug-dealing spree to an end.

Defence lawyer Mary Aspinall-Miles attempted to play down his ‘lesser role’ in the drug enterprise, saying Malin feared violence if he did not recover the drug debt.

But judge Melville insisted Malin had a ‘significant role’ as a drug enforcer alongside his dealing duties. ‘This was sustained dealing to others and supplying drugs, and you were no doubt an enforcer,’ the judge said.

SEE ALSO: Two lanes blocked after crash

Malin, of Connersville Way, was jailed for seven and a half years for aggravated burglary, possessing an offensive weapon and two counts of supplying Class A drugs.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

You can subscribe here for unlimited access to our online coverage, including Pompey, for 27p a day.