A drug dealer tried to dispose of more than 250 wraps of cocaine and heroin while fleeing from the police.
Corben Pearson failed on both counts after officers chased him down on foot across a field and found him hiding in a bush.
The county priority tasking team had originally attended Brierley Forest Park, Sutton-in-Ashfield, to retrieve a motorbike that had been abandoned there.
Having arrived at the field, however, they immediately spotted Pearson riding what was a stolen bike, which he immediately used to try and speed away when he noticed the police.
This behaviour aroused the suspicions of the policing team, so they pursued Pearson, who fell off the bike after losing his balance before trying to make a run for it across a nearby field.
The 18-year-old was then seen to discard items as he ran by the pursuing officers, who managed to keep up with him stride for stride before locating him crouching down in a bush.
Pearson, who is now 19, emerged from his hiding place, before being placed in handcuffs and walked back across the field to the waiting police car.
At that stage, the officer who detained him retraced his steps and discovered a bag containing around 260 individual wraps of cocaine and heroin, which the motorbike rider had discarded minutes earlier.
Several mobile phones were also found next to where Pearson had been hiding, while large quantities of cash and a knuckleduster were also seized from him when he was searched on 5 March of this year.
An investigation by the force’s County Lines team also found him to be involved in a wider conspiracy involving the sale of Class A and Class B drugs.
That activity took place over nine months, between June 2025 and March 2026, with cocaine, heroin and cannabis all supplied across the Ashfield area during that time.
Pearson was also subsequently linked to a shop robbery he and another man committed together a few weeks earlier, on 5 February.
That incident saw Pearson snatch bottles of alcohol from the shelves and make for the exit of a store in Forest Road, Sutton-in-Ashfield, while his accomplice repeatedly punched a shop worker in the face.
He would go on to be charged with multiple offences, including robbery, conspiring to possess Class A drugs with intent to supply, possessing with intent to supply Class A drugs and conspiring to supply Class B drugs.
Pearson, of Brierley Road, Sutton-in-Ashfield, was also charged with handling stolen goods, possessing an offensive weapon in public, and using a motor vehicle without a valid licence or insurance.
Having pleaded guilty to each offence, Pearson attended Nottingham Crown Court on Friday (11 September), where he was sentenced to five years in a young offenders’ institution.
Sergeant Zoey Price, of the county priority tasking team, said:
“This job provided a perfect example of how a response to a relatively low-level report can quickly escalate into something far more serious.
“Having initially been called about an abandoned motorbike in a field, our officers literally had to be on their toes when they went to retrieve it and immediately found themselves involved in a foot pursuit.
“Thanks to their quick feet and quick thinking, the officers in attendance were quickly able to track down and detain Corben Pearson when he tried to get away.
“As it turned out, the bike he’d been riding was stolen, while he’d also been carrying large quantities of Class A drugs, which were quickly located and seized, thanks to the awareness of our officers.
“We’re pleased to see Pearson has now received a custodial sentence for the series of crimes he committed.”
