A Brighton drug dealer has been sentenced to over three years in prison after admitting to multiple drug and weapons offences.

Shy Ponsonby-Way, 19, was observed dealing drugs in central Brighton earlier this year. Officers from the Specialist Enforcement Unit (SEU) arrested him during patrols aimed at disrupting the supply of drugs. Ponsonby-Way was supplying class A drugs, including crack cocaine and heroin, and was found with 90 wraps concealed in his groin.

Following an investigation by the Brighton Community Investigation Team, he was charged and appeared at Lewes Crown Court on June 21. He received a sentence of three years and four months.

Ponsonby-Way, formerly of Surrenden Crescent, Brighton, admitted to four counts of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply, two counts of possessing a knife or bladed article, two counts of assaulting emergency workers, and one count of possessing criminal property.

The court heard how he assaulted police officers on multiple occasions: in custody at Crowhurst Road, Brighton, in October 2022, and in George Street, Brighton, on August 5 last year. He was also found in possession of a knife in Trafalgar Street, Brighton, in July last year.

This year, SEU officers conducting proactive patrols around St James’s Street on January 4 observed Ponsonby-Way exchanging drugs with a suspected user in an alleyway. He was then seen completing another deal behind North Street. When stopped, officers found him with a golf ball-sized package containing 90 wraps of crack cocaine and heroin, a burner phone, and cash. On March 11, he was stopped again in Elms Avenue with heroin, crack cocaine, and a lock knife.