Killer Jack David Alexander sold cocaine in York while on parole

Jack David Alexander, 28, refused to say what he was doing or where he was going when police saw him using a fire escape to get into some flats, York Crown Court heard.

When they searched him they found drugs, cash and a mobile phone with drug dealer texts on it.

In 2015, he was jailed for seven years for the manslaughter of 21-year-old Sam Wilson on Haxby Road.

Read more about how Alexander and his mates attacked Mr Wilson here.

• Thugs jailed for more than 17 years for the manslaughter of Sam Wilson

The Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris, told Alexander his drug dealing  had been “peddling in misery”.

“It is a filthy trade,” the judge said. “The vast majority of crime is being generated by dealers in drugs - pushers.  People die of it as well.

“Pushing cocaine or heroin or Class A drugs is something too serious not to be met with an immediate prison sentence.”

Cocaine and money (Image: Archant)

When Alexander’s barrister Edward Steele tried to get the prison sentence suspended on the grounds the 28-year-old had rehabilitated himself in the two and a half years since he was arrested, the judge said he had been “playing the system”.

He had kept silent during his police interview which meant forensic officers had to spend time analysing his phone and building evidence against him, delaying other cases.

“The court has to be careful not be seduced in cases where there is considerable delay at the hands of the defendant,” he said.

Alexander, of Burtonstone Lane, Clifton, pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine with intent to supply to others on March 26, 2020, the third day of the first national Covid-19 lockdown.

He was jailed for two years and four months. 

Daniel Ingham, prosecuting, said two police on patrol were alerted to people getting into flats on Union Terrace via the fire escape. When they arrived, they caught Alexander leaving via the fire escape.

“The defendant was evasive and unable to provide a straight answer where he had been and where he was going,” said Mr Ingham.

Alexander had 5.23g of cocaine on him worth £150 to £300 and £120 in cash.

He also had two mobile phones, one of which had photos of white powder on scales and drug dealing texts.

Alexander has 51 previous convictions, several for violence.

Mr Steele said Alexander had gone through a “very dark period” in his life. His mother had died while he was serving the manslaughter sentence and he had had “significant” mental health issues.

But prison had given him the time to tackle his drug habit that was causing him to commit crimes.

Since leaving prison, he had stayed off drugs, got full-time employment and he and his long-term partner now had a two-month-old baby.

York Crown Court heard that Alexander had also served a prison sentence since his release for assaulting a woman while he was on parole.