Jail for drug dealer thought to be first in country to use a chip and pin machine to take payments

A drug dealer who used a chip and pin machine to accept payments has been jailed for seven years. Mark Slender, 35, of Cheltenham, pleaded guilty at Gloucester Crown Court to possession of class A drugs with intent to supply.



Police said £12,000 worth of payments were taken on the card reader. A spokesman said it was thought to be the first time in the county that a drug dealer had used a chip and pin device to take payment for drugs. Slender was arrested in August after officers searched his home in Bishops Cleeve.

They found £5,800 worth of drugs, including cocaine with a purity of 93% which police said was some of the purest recently seized in the county. The card reader, which was plugged into Slender's car and charging when he was arrested, recorded almost £12,000 worth of drug deals between 21 March and 15 August.



Slender is also known as Mark Wilson, and goes by the nicknames Guppy and Gup. Officers found receipts from the card reader, which read "Cheers, Gup". PC Thom Finnikin said: "He attempted to bring drug dealing into the 21st century by using a chip and pin machine to take payment for cocaine and subsequently showed his arrogance by putting a tag line at the top of each receipt supplied to his drug buyers."