A JUDGE branded a university student an “absolute fool” who “jeopardised everything” by dealing cannabis.

Recorder Kainth had some words of warning for Idris Banjo who was sentenced after admitting being concerned in the supply of a class B drug.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard Banjo, 21, was wrestled to the ground after he tried to flee officers in Colchester.

Officers on patrol in plain clothes and an unmarked vehicle spotted two men approaching a parked Mazda.

The court heard they leaned into the front passenger window, making the officers suspicious they were participating in a drug deal.

Banjo was the driver, but when police asked him to get out of the car he attempted to flee on foot. Officers noticed two phones falling from his hands as he ran.

After he was caught, officers found 12 bags of cannabis, with a street value of £240, and cash in £5 notes in his car.

The court heard he told officers he would sell to friends and any money he would make would be channelled into his own cannabis habit.

Sarah Steggles, mitigating, said her client is in the second year of an accounting degree.

Since his arrest, he has moved back to London to carry on his studies online and has gained employment as a delivery driver.

Recorder Kainth said: “You’re a young man who got excellent GCSE grades, got your A-Levels, and then embarked upon a degree.

“Why someone who has achieved as much as you have would risk throwing it all away I don’t understand.

“You’ve been an absolute fool, that’s what you’ve been.

“Because nobody can say they are not alert as to what the sentences are imposed by the courts with regards to drugs and drug dealing.”

Banjo, of Wimbourne Street, London, was sentenced to eight months imprisonment, suspended for one year.

Recorder Kainth added: “You’re very young, you’ve got your whole future in front of you. Don’t mess it up.”