A drug dealer who brandished a sword at night club door staff and was found with firearms when he was arrested has been jailed for more than 14 years.
Jahzadd Ryan, 25, was thrown out of the night club Shooshh, in King’s Road, Brighton, at about 4.15am on Sunday 31 October 2021.
At Brighton Crown Court, Caroline Moonan, prosecuting, said: “He was aggressive and threatened to go and get a gun and shoot everyone.
“He returned with a black sword, 2ft long, and took it out of its sheath. He started to swing it at the security officer’s head. It missed only because he stepped back.
“Alfie Shaw, another security guard, grabbed hold of Mr Ryan. He threw the sword at Mr Shaw. It fell to the ground and broke.”
Miss Moonan said that Ryan told the police that he wanted to go back inside to collect some belongings, had taken cocaine and xanax and couldn’t remember saying anything about a gun.
She said: “There was a high risk of serious disorder and serious alarm was caused to the security officers.”
She added that Ryan, who told police that he was staying in a bed and breakfast in Brighton, had previous convictions for having an offensive weapon and for having a “bladed article”.
They found his phone with messages and calls linked to the Major drugs line. Miss Moonan said: “After he was granted bail, the Major line started up again with a new number.”
Miss Moonan said: “An officer leaving Brighton police station saw Mr Ryan acting in a way towards a woman that prompted him to call colleagues.”
Officers chased Ryan and, Miss Moonan said: “He was found in a back garden pretending to be unconscious.”
When he was found, he had £445 cash, cocaine and the Major drugs line. He had tried to dump other wraps of cocaine but they were found.
He told police that he was a heroin and cocaine user himself and that he had stolen the phones that were found on him from someone else.
But calls had been made from the drugs line phone to his mother and to his girlfriend.
Miss Moonan said that he was bailed in July last year and quickly reactivated the Major drugs line.
The court was told that he had been using a 15-year-old boy as a runner and he was caught with wraps of heroin – but Ryan was found not guilty of modern slavery.
On Tuesday 22 August last year, police raided a property in Herbert Road, Woolwich, at 4am and found the phone used for the Major drugs line as well as a lock-knife, guns and ammunition.
Sussex Police said: “He was located with two live firearms, ammunition as well as evidence of the ‘Major’ drug line.
“Ryan was arrested and later charged with being concerned in the supply of cocaine and heroin, two counts of possession of a firearm without a certificate and two counts of possession of ammunition.
“He was also further charged with six further drug offences after being found in possession of quantities of drugs, and running the ‘Major’ drug line from October 2021.”
Peter Corrigan, defending, said: “He explained in the witness box how he got caught up in it. He found himself owing people money and getting told what to do.”
This included holding the drugs line, holding the drugs and delivering them too.
When he was arrested in August last year, he said that he was staying at a girl’s house and that the guns were her boyfriend’s. He thought that one was a toy.
Judge Stephen Mooney told Ryan that when he waved the sword around outside Shooshh, he “was fortunate that no one came to any harm”.
In a hearing at Brighton Crown Court on Monday (25 November), he added: “Those who saw the incident must have been terrified.
“You were arrested twice and bailed twice and straight away returned to dealing drugs.”
Judge Mooney said that the sentence reflected “the prolonged and serious nature of your offending”.
Deeming Ryan “dangerous” in law, the judge said: “You have a propensity to carry weapons and to use them”
Referring to the night club incident, Judge Mooney said: “This is an extremely serious offence which involved the brandishing of a sword in circumstances which could have caused serious harm.”
He was jailed for two years and eight months.
His drug dealing “was determined and repeated and substantial amounts were supplied and offences were carried out while you were on bail”. He was jailed for six years.
And he was jailed for six years for the firearms offences although Mr Corrigan said that the weapons and ammunition were not as dangerous as they appeared.
Having pleaded guilty to most of the charges, Ryan was jailed by Judge Mooney for 14 years and eight months in total.
He was told that he would serve at least two thirds of his sentence – or just under 10 years – in prison before he could be considered for parole.
Judge Mooney ordered that the drugs and weapons be forfeited and destroyed and that Ryan should also forfeit a total of £866 cash found when he was arrested.
Detective Constable Phillip Peck, of the Sussex Police Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said: “This was an extremely complex case.
“Ryan tried his best to evade police detection, utilising multiple mobile phones and using others to do his bidding.
“But, after working tirelessly and closely with the Metropolitan Police, we were able to ensure Ryan and two extremely dangerous firearms are off the streets.
“Ryan used and exploited others when running this drug line which ran between London and Brighton so it is only right he serves time in prison.
“The supply of drugs causes harm and misery not just to those that consume the drug but also the surrounding community.
“This sentence reflects the level of harm that Ryan was inflicting and is fully justified.”
