THE Recorder of Liverpool last night warned that thousands of “upright” students were being targeted by criminals to store their drugs.

Judge Henry Globe QC was speaking after more than £320,000 worth of hard drugs and cash were found in a Liverpool student’s dormitory room after he failed to empty it at the end of term.

Promising student Joseph Jenkins had rented a small room in a university hall of residence while he completed his studies, but when he failed to clean it out at the end of his contract, staff went in to empty it.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how astonished cleaners found shoe boxes and drawers stuffed full of class A drugs – packaged and ready to be sold – bundles of cash and drug paraphernalia.

Police investigators discovered heroin and crack cocaine, some of 94% purity, with a street value of about £270,000 and more than £63,000 in cash.

As officers emptied the dormitory room in Atlantic Point Student Village in Liverpool city centre, they noticed John Moores University student Jenkins returning to the premises and pursued him.

Yesterday, the 20-year-old was sent to a Young Offenders’ Institute for eight years after he admitted two counts of possessing class-A drugs with intent to supply on September 4 last year.

Judge Globe said: “Those who peddle these drugs and have access to these quantities of drugs and the amount of cash, which is significant, need a safe holding place.

“Intelligent, potentially trustworthy university undergraduates going about their studies in university accommodation are very good targets for criminals to use as warehouse men.”

He added that drug-dealing gangs were unlikely to trust other criminals with serious amounts of cash and drugs and had begun to target those who were less suspicious.

But Judge Globe said Jenkins – who had stored the drugs for five weeks – had succumbed to playing an “important role in the supply of dangerous drugs”. He needed to send out a war-ning to deter others hoping to making quick money.

Geoffrey Lowe, defending, told the court Jenkins – who has no previous convictions – was a promising and intelligent student who had suffered a “moment of madness”.