Mohamed Naji: North Sydney barber sentenced for drug dealing
A “clumsy” and “amateur” drug dealer sold coke outside his North Sydney barbershop in a bid to feed his own habit. The dapper barber was surrounded by friends and family as he learned his fate in court.
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A well-groomed barber dealt cocaine to an undercover operative in his work apron near the front of his North Sydney barbershop to scratch a cocaine habit, a court has heard.
The three-time, “clumsy, amateur” street dealing of Mohamed Hassan Naji, 27, landed him in the District Court, which heard on Friday he didn’t take a profit for the large drug deals.
Instead, Naji told the court he received about six grams of cocaine in total off the top, at the cost of about $1500, which he was ordered to pay back to the state as part of his sentence.
The dapper, softly-spoken, hopeful pro-golfer avoided jail on Friday, after giving evidence about the “feeling in his stomach” that wouldn’t go away unless he got a hit.
He told the court his business, The Groomsmen barbershop on Miller St, a joint venture between his father and another family member, was struggling and drugs eased the pressure.
After he had spent all the money offered to him by his business and family, Naji said he approached a friend to ask him how he maintained his drug habit, and he told him through drug dealing.
But this friend was being watched by police and an undercover operative was one of his clients, who became Naji’s client.
Naji’s version was accepted by the court.
On three occasions, July 19, August 2 and August 16, Naji supplied a total of 41.3 grams to the operative, one of which had an 11 per cent purity.
He received a total of $13,650 for the deals, which he told the court he gave to his friend.
Following the incident, Naji was diagnosed with cocaine-use, cannabis-use disorder, and gambling disorder.
Judge Mark Williams defined Naji as a “low level ad hoc street dealer feeding his own habit”.
Supported by family members, Naji was sentenced to an 18-month Intensive Corrections Order and 200 hours of community service.