A drug dealer has been described as running a ‘shop’ selling sweets and chocolate laced with drugs.

Kyle Murphy, 20, has been jailed for seven years after admitting possessing cocaine with intent to supply, being concerned in the supply of cannabis, two counts of possessing cannabis with intent to supply, two counts of possessing the class A drug psilocybin, namely magic mushrooms, two counts of possessing cannabis and one of possessing criminal property.

Murphy operated under the name ‘Flavour Chaser’ and sold chocolate containing psilocybin along with chewy and marshmallow sweets laced with THC, the psychoactive component in cannabis.

The court heard there was evidence from phone records that Murphy had become involved in drug dealing at the age of 15.

During sentencing at the Court of General Gaol Delivery on Friday, prosecutor Sara-Jayne Dodge said that on April 24, 2024, police searched Murphy’s home address in Hillside Avenue, Douglas, and seized 11 containers of cannabis in 3g amounts along with the sweets.

There were 4.4g of magic mushrooms and 928g of chocolate laced with psilocybin. There were also 450g of sweets containing THC. Other drug paraphernalia was found alongside £2,000 in cash.

Murphy was later arrested and bailed pending further enquiries.

A further warrant was executed at Murphy’s address on August 9, 2024, during which a mobile phone was seized showing evidence of drug dealing.

Murphy was later traced to a room at the Empress Hotel in Douglas in November that year. When searched, 5g of cannabis was found alongside ziplock bags and cash.

A red holdall was found to contain a white powder which was analysed and identified as 117g of cocaine worth £11,700.

Another phone was also seized which showed evidence of drug dealing going back three years to when he was just 15.

The messages were to ‘Flavour Chaser’ and many involved selling ounces of cannabis, including one case of three ounces worth £1,050.

There were also messages referring to ‘coke’, but Murphy argued they related to cola-flavoured sweets laced with THC. The drug dealing continued from October 1, 2021, until November 5, 2024.

In mitigation, advocate Helen Lobb said her client suffered from serious mental health issues and became involved in drug dealing at the age of 15.

She said: ‘There had been exploitation taking place and his involvement was a mixture of naivety and immaturity. My client was at a young age when brought into this lifestyle.’

Miss Lobb said Murphy was by no means ‘top of the tree’ and made very little money from the enterprise.

‘He has been used as a cog in this drug supply machine,’ she said. ‘He accepts what he has done is wrong.’

Miss Lobb said her client had taken positive steps while in prison to address his issues so that he could move into education or employment on release.

Deemster Graeme Cook told Murphy: ‘You essentially had a shop selling drugs and you continued dealing after you had been arrested and bailed.’

However, the deemster expressed concern about how young Murphy had been when he became involved in drug dealing and took that into account when sentencing him.

Murphy was jailed for seven years for the headline offence of cocaine possession with intent to supply, with all other sentences to run concurrently.