Little Mix star's brother spared jail after judge heard he dealt cocaine to pay off drug dealers threatening to kidnap the X-Factor star

Little Mix star's brother spared jail after judge heard he dealt cocaine to pay off drug dealers threatening to kidnap the X-Factor star

By Damien Gayle

PUBLISHED: 14:05 EST, 28 June 2012 | UPDATED: 04:31 EST, 29 June 2012

Spared jail: Jonathan Nelson, brother of Little Mix star Jesy Nelson, arriving at Southend Crown Court today

Little Mix starlet Jesy Nelson was today named at the centre of a kidnap plot as her brother was spared jail for peddling cocaine for dealers who had threatened her.

Jesy's older brother Jonathan Nelson was in December caught red-handed selling the Class A drug to an undercover reporter for a national newspaper at a carpark in Hornchurch, Essex.

As he appeared at Southend Crown Court for sentencing today he sensationally claimed he had only agreed to sell cocaine after threats were made to his sister.

The court heard the 23-year-old was feeding a £100-a-day cocaine habit which had left him £3,000 in debt to an underworld character he knew only as 'Mr Turner'.

Nelson, whose mother Janis, 51, is a Police Community Support Officer in Canvey Island, Essex, had pleaded guilty to a single charge of supplying cocaine at an earlier hearing.

But James Lachkovic, defending Nelson, said he was 'simply a delivery boy'.

Dressed in a smart light gre y suit, with white shirt and open collar, Nelson today was asked to take to the stand to give evidence in his mitigation.

After swearing on the bible, Nelson, who has dark brown slicked back hair, said that as a result of his cocaine habit he had found himself owing £500 to Mr Turner who, angered by a delay in repayment, had summarily increased the debt to £3,000.

Nelson told the court that he was warned in a sinister phoned call from Mr Turner in December that his sister would be kidnapped unless he came up with the cash.

He said: 'I asked him for more time. He was angry. He was making threats and he threatened to kidnap my sister because she had just become famous.

'I said if there is anything I can do to pay the money I would do it.'

Nelson added: 'He called me again and said "you will have to do me a few favours".'

It was not the first intimidation Nelson had suffered. Earlier that month he had been at his girlfriend's house when th ree men burst in and attacked him with a baseball bat.

He said: 'They pushed their way in, saying ‘you owe Mr Turner money’, I was whacked on the back of the head and one of them grabbed and spun me round and the other one hit me with a wooden baseball bat.

'They were shouting abuse at me but I told them I did not have it.

'They said: "you have to pay the money you owe him, if we have not got it, we will be back within a week for the money".'

That attack left Nelson with a broken arm which had to be patched up with surgery to install two metal plates.

Threats: Nelson told the court that he owed money to drugs dealers who had made threats to kidnap his sister Jesy, who was then appearing on X Factor

Nelson, who would often buy five grammes of the drug for his own use, claimed it was as a result of those threats to his family and himself that he had started dealing.

He admitted selling two wraps of cocaine for £80 to an undercover reporter from his Smart car on December 14 last year.

Nelson’s family were in the courtroom to hear evidence of his drug addiction although sister Jesy stayed away.

Matt Morgan, prosecuting, said Nelson had been captured on hidden camera selling two wraps of cocaine for £80 from his car.

'A black Smart car pulled up and out of the came the defendant Mr Nelson,' said Mr Morgan. 'He was recognised by the reporter as someone he has seen previously.

'[The reporter] approached the window of the Smart car. A conversation ensued in which he was presented with two wraps of paper, each about two inches by half an inch in size.

'The price was agreed as £80 and he handed it over. The incident was photographed.

'The reporter took the drug to be forensically examined and they were found to contain 0.7g in one wrap and 0.61g in the other of a white powder which was found to contain cocaine.'

No evidence was heard by the court about the purity of the cocaine which Nelson had dealt.

Southend Crown Court: Judge Jonathan Black heard Nelson only dealt cocaine after he was attacked and his sister threatened by dealers he owed money to

Mr Lachkovic, mitigating, told the court that Nelson was 'simply a delivery boy and one cannot envisage a lesser role than that.' The court heard that Nelson was no longer using drugs.

Judge Jonathan Black, sentencing, branded Nelson 'stupid' for agreeing to become involved with the drug dealing.

'This will no doubt cause embarrassment to your sister who has taken a strong anti-drugs stance,' Judge Black said.

Although the offence could have led to custody, the judge said the threats received by Nelson, and his previous good character, meant he would not be jailing him.

Nelson, who is unemployed and lives in Hornchurch, was sentenced to a 10-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to carry out 200 hours unpaid work in the community.

He was also ordered to pay costs of £600.

Clean cut: X-Factor winners Little Mix - (left-right) Jade Thirlwall, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and Perrie Edwards - have said they neither drink nor do drugs

As well as the drugs conviction, Nelson was also sentenced to three months prison, suspended, to run concurrently after admitting driving whilst disqualified.

For another charge of driving with no insurance the judge ordered there would be no separate penalty.

The case will come as an embarrassment to Nelson’s sister and her fellow Little Mix bandmates Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall.

They have made much of thei r squeaky clean lifestyles in their bid for pop chart success, with all four saying they never use drugs or drink.

There is absolutely no suggestion that teetotal Jesy, of nearby Romford, Essex, or any of her family were aware of her brother’s drug dealing, or were in any way involved.

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