A man narrowly escaped death when he fell from a third floor window of a Norwich flat and broke his back in a desperate bid to escape drug dealers, a court heard.
The victim had been involved in stealing drugs and £900 in cash from London dealers, who had been using his nephew's Northfields flat as a base to peddle drugs, including crack cocaine, Norwich Crown Court was told.
John Morgans, prosecuting, said that the victim had been acting as a drugs runner but said the temptation of looking after the drugs and cash became too much for him: 'He decided to steal all the drugs as well as approximately £900 in cash that he had collected, but not handed over. It is fair to say that this is a decision that he now regrets.
He said that the victim and his nephew were being chased to pay back the stolen stash by London dealer Hilton Mhandu, 23,
He said that the victim was being kept in the Northfields flat by Martell Randall, 26, when he tried to escape.
Mr Morgans said: 'He was three floors up and thought he could just hang onto the window sill. He lost his grip. Falling on a manhole cover probably saved his life. Even so he broke his back, his left wrist and left leg.'
Mr Morgans said that at the time of the victim's escape, Mhandu was on his way to the flat with the victim's nephew, who had been forced to get in his car.
However following the victim's escape, Mhandu and Randall abandoned the plan and returned to London, where they were both later arrested.
Mhandu, from London, admitted conspiracy to supply drugs and kidnap and was jailed for six years and Randall, also from London, admitted conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and false imprisonment and was jailed for three years..
Jailing them, Judge Anthony Bate said that Mhandu had played a significant role and that Randall a lesser one and warned: 'People that travel to Norwich with the express purpose of dealing in drugs face imprisonment.'
Sean Hammond, for Mhandu, said that he also had been under pressure to come to Norwich to deal drugs to pay off his own debts.
He said the kidnap involved getting the nephew to get into his car, which was just for a short period, before he let him go.
Matthew Dance, for Randall, said that his involvement was much less as he had only been involved in the drugs conspiracy for two days and said that the false imprisonment was also for a short period, when he prevented the victim leaving the flat.
'He had no real understanding of the scale of the operation.'
He said he had been taking orders from Mhandu and was not responsible for the injuries to the victim, who fell from a window.
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