THE son of musician Nigel Kennedy has been jailed for dealing cocaine after he was caught ‘red-handed’ with more than £15,000 of the drug.

Sark Kennedy was jailed for 33 months at Worcester Crown Court for possession with intent to supply cocaine. A second charge of possession of criminal property was allowed to lie on file.

The 25-year-old of Cowleigh Road, Malvern, was dealing the drugs in Worcester between May 14 and June 22 this year.

His father, renowned violinist Nigel Kennedy, has admitted to smoking cannabis and has previously said: “I can’t do my job without it.”

Recorder Martin Butterworth, who jailed Sark Kennedy, said: “It’s perfectly clear you were up to your neck.

"You got caught red-handed because you had been under police observation for a significant period of time. You became involved in a very significant way in a filthy trade.”

Omar Majid, prosecuting, said Kennedy was a middle market dealer controlling street dealers.

Kennedy used a Skoda Octavia as a ‘stash car’ to hold the drugs.

Bulk SMS messages were sent out from drug dealing lines to addicts in the operation, run by Kennedy and his friend, Ricardo White, the prosecution said.

Kennedy was under observation and seen behind the wheel of the Skoda on May 14, 19 and 27 and on June 10, 11 and 18.

He was observed in the company of Mr White in The Tything, carrying a black holdall on June 22.

A dealer line was active that day at the Nuffield gym in Droitwich Road, Worcester. 

Police vehicles blocked Kennedy in at Bransford Road in Worcester while he was behind the wheel of the stash car.

Police seized from the car a Huawei mobile phone with two SIM cards and a Rolex and gold chains valued at £7,300.

Inside the fingers of gloves from petrol station forecourts they found cocaine divided into 0.4g ‘shots’, each worth £40.

There were 389 wraps of cocaine (146g) with a purity of 59 per cent and a street value of £15,560.

An expert described the enterprise as ‘mid-market level’ with the drugs to be handed on to ‘multiple street dealers’.

The dealer line was described as sending out ‘daily global messages’.

Kennedy answered ‘no comment’ to police in interview.

His only previous conviction was on December 12, 2019 for driving under the influence of drink or drugs.

An aggravating feature was considered the relatively high purity of the class A drug, indicating the dealers were close to the source. 

John Cooper QC, defending, said: “Here is a young man, still only 25, who has now a will to rid himself of this awful addiction and the trouble it has got him into.”

"He has an unconventional background, an upbringing that could provide excitement perhaps but also, perhaps, a lack of stability."

Kennedy has already spent 133 days in custody since his arrest which will count towards his sentence. Because of Covid-19 he has been on ‘23-hour lock-up’.

Kennedy can expect to serve half the sentence in custody and half on licence in the community.