A COCAINE dealer who had a firearm “for his own protection” has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years.

Jordan Gharib was arrested last summer as part of a police investigation into suspected drug offences in the town.

The 29-year-old was in possession of a two-barrelled smooth bore weapon, which officers located in a vehicle near his address in Cumnor Road on the evening of July 25, 2020.

Police also located class A drugs and cash following further searches.

Gharib was jailed at Bournemouth Crown Court having previously admitted offences of possession of a firearm and being concerned in the supply of cocaine. He was also found guilty of possessing cocaine with intent to supply following a trial.

Prosecuting, Tom Horder said the weapon was deemed to be in the most serious category of the sentencing guidelines.

He said it had been assessed by a force armourer as “capable of killing two or more people in quick succession”.

The firearm was designed for two projectiles to be released in a short period with two triggers, the court heard.

The prosecutor said in terms of harm, there was a risk the firearm would be used in association with criminality.

In relation to the drug dealing, Gharib was deemed to have a “significant role” at street level.

“Messages indicated that during the course of drug dealing he had more than one person working for him,” said Mr Horder.

Gharib, a father-of-two, was “clearly motivated” by the financial gains and had full awareness of the drug dealing operation, the court was told.

Mitigating, Rob Griffiths said his client had entered a basis of plea in relation to the drugs which no longer stood after the trial.

The defendant had been using crack cocaine for around 12 years in London and moved to Bournemouth to get away from that, Mr Griffiths said. The barrister said his client had worked as a chef before the pandemic, but lost his job when lockdown started and he became back involved with drugs, dealing to fund his own habit.

Mr Griffiths said Gharib was completely clean of drugs since being remanded in custody.

Sentencing judge Recorder Malcolm Gibney said the defendant had previously been attacked by others involved in drug dealing and possessed the weapon “for your own protection”.

Recorder Gibney said there were no bullets “in the conventional sense”, rather “blanks and pellets” which could cause “very serious injury”.