AN alleged cocaine conspirator was described as ‘not the sharpest tool in the box’ by his own barrister.

The jury was asked to find Aaqib Nasar, son of so-called ‘puppet master’ Mohammed Nasar, not guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine in Worcester. Father and son stand trial at Worcester Crown Court alongside Robert Degaris and Steven Binning.

Jabeen Akhtar, for Nasar, said the prosecution's case was ‘like father like son’. But she said the jury ‘must not fall into that trap’, reminding them that the burden of proof lay with the prosecution, not the defence.

She said of her 22-year-old client: “You might have got the impression he’s not the sharpest tool in the box. I’m not saying that to embarrass him.”

Miss Akhtar said the ‘so-called' meeting between Nasar and convicted conspirators Ashley James and David Warren at Worcester tip in Bilford Road, Worcester, on May 28, 2015 was ‘a chance encounter’ and asked where the evidence was that showed it had been arranged.

Nasar admitted knowing Ashley James and argued it would have been ‘rude not to say hello’.

Miss Akhtar said, by mentioning the tip meeting, the prosecution were 'clutching at straws', ‘mud slinging’ and ‘muddying the waters’ as Nasar was not charged in relation this count on the indictment.

She said: “They’re throwing mud and hoping it will stick.”

Miss Akhtar said defendants should not be found 'guilty by association' and that there was no identification evidence to prove that Nasar had meet with drug dealer Saheed Iqbal in Midland Road, Worcester, at 3pm on November 11, two days before the Worcester taxi driver was arrested with 1kg of cocaine. Nasar had been under police surveillance from November 6.

She said the Audi spotted nearby was also driven by Nasar's father, uncle and cousin and not owned or insured by him. Miss Akhtar said the phone evidence showed the accepted phone of Nasar and the disputed 'dirty' drugs phone being used at the same time. "It's really stretching the imagination a little bit. It defeats the purpose of having a clean and dirty phone" she said.

She added: "Why would 'the puppet master' (the name given to Nasar's dad, Mohammed Nasar by the prosecution) get his own son involved in street dealing, doing the dirty work, when he could go and get anyone to do that? We say it's nonsense."

The trial continues.