AN ARMY hopeful who had to wave goodbye to his dream of joining the forces instead chose dealing drugs in nightclubs as his career of choice. 

Ali Hilmi was found in possession of ecstasy and cocaine when a bouncer at Projekt nightclub, Burnley, searched him.

He was also found to be carrying counterfeit cash, which were so unsophisticated they said ‘20 poonds’ rather than pounds. 

Prosecuting, David Toal said: “When he was asked if he had anything on him which he shouldn’t have, he told the bouncer he had both drugs and counterfeit cash. 

“He placed a number of snap bags onto a table. He also produced a large amount of £20 notes which were clearly fake as they had the word ‘poond’ on them and all contained the same serial number. 

“He suggested that the notes were to sell on and that the drugs were for his own personal use.”

Later analysis revealed that five of the snap bags contained 6.8g of MDMA with a value of £240. Two bags contained 0.55g of cocaine, worth around £40.

The fake notes amounted to 16 £20 notes which purported to be £320.

The 22-year-old’s phone was also seized and analysed, revealing he had been involved in the supply of cocaine and ecstasy for the previous seven months, primarily to customers in nightclubs and bars. 

During mitigation, it was heard how Hilmi’s family had been left ‘shocked and devastated’.

Prosecutor Miss Woods said: “You can imagine the shock to the defendant’s family when they became aware that this young man had involved himself in this type of serious crime. 

“The defendant is the only child of a close and loving family. They are a totally law-abiding and hard-working family who are totally alien to the criminal court system.”

She added: “It begs the question why this young man, from a good hard-working family would become embroiled in the supply of class A drugs.

“It would appear from the reports that there were a series of profound events in the defendant’s life. 

“Some time ago he was the victim of a pretty serious, unprovoked assault. The direct result of that assault and the injuries that occurred meant that his ambitions to join the army were significantly delayed as he wasn’t in a physical state to make an application.”

The court also heard how Hilmi had suffered personal loss and illness within his family, which led to him using drugs recreationally. 

Jailing Hilmi of Valley Drive, Padiham, for three years, Judge Graham Knowles QC said: “This was unsophisticated but persistent dealing of class A drugs in Burnley nightclubs.

“When you were caught you had 16 counterfeit £20 notes on you, they were not of high quality but a text message revealed that you had been able to buy cocaine with them. 

“As your counsel tells me, this was the second time that you had been in that club with counterfeit notes having been caught there once before.

“You have no relevant criminal record, you are 22, and you are from a good family in every sense. You suffered a series of significant misfortunes and bereavements. You are entitled to sympathy for them, but they do not make you less to blame for what you did. 

“You opted to go into serious crime and everyone knows dealing class A drugs is serious crime. You must face the consequences.”