THE suspended sentence a drug dealer received after he was caught with 66 wraps of crack cocaine and heroin could be referred to the Court of Appeal.

Officers in the Attorney General's Office (AGO) are currently assessing whether they feel the sentence handed down to Qamar Anthony-Sampoh was 'unduly lenient'.

Anthony-Sampoh, 21 and of St Peter's Grove, London, received a two-year prison term, suspended for two years, after admitting two charges of possessing a class A drug with intent to supply in Bournemouth.

A judge sitting at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday, February 26, ordered the defendant to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work.

The case has been highlighted to the AGO through the 'unduly lenient sentence' scheme.

This scheme only applies to crown court sentences for a selection of offences, which includes serious drug crimes.

Once the case has been reviewed it could be sent to the Court of Appeal. If this does take place, a decision will then be taken on whether the sentence should stay the same, is unreasonably low and may increase, or the court may refuse to hear the case.

A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office said: “We have received a request for the sentence of Qamar Anthony-Sampoh to be considered under the unduly lenient sentence scheme.

"The law officers have 28 days from sentencing to consider the case and make a decision.”

With Anthony-Sampoh being sentenced on February 26, the AGO have just days left to make a decision.

As reported, at around 2.20pm on November 22, 2019, a police officer on patrol in the area of Grove Road saw two known class A drug users who appeared to be waiting for someone.

They were then involved in an exchange with someone in a vehicle and the car, a Volkswagen Polo, was subsequently stopped by the officer in Derby Road. The vehicle then drove off into the grounds of a nearby property.

Officers attended the premises and Anthony-Sampoh was seen to discard something over a fence. He was detained for a drugs search and the item he had thrown was recovered.

It was found to be a bag containing around £500 in cash. The defendant then alerted officers that he had swallowed three wraps of class A drugs and had further drugs concealed on his person.

Officers subsequently found a further 50 wraps of crack cocaine and 16 wraps of heroin.