Monty Python actress’s son, 37, is jailed for four years for supplying cocaine to ‘decadent’ City workers until police caught him with £30,000 of drugs in his mother’s Toyota Prius

• Zachary Brine-Elliott was arrested in Hampstead and found with haul of drugs
• Officers found several Nokia phones, a pair of scales, bags and cutting agent 
• The 37-year-old’s family sobbed admitted charge and was jailed for four years 
• His mother is actress Kenteas Linda Brine, who starred in Monty Python 
• Late father was author Gil Elliott, writer of Twentieth Century Book of the Dead

Zachary Brine-Elliott admitted one count of possession with intent to supply cocaine and was jailed for four years today

The son of a former Monty Python actress and celebrated author has today been jailed for four years after he was caught with £30,000 of cocaine.   

Zachary Brine-Elliott, who supplied class A drugs to City bankers and ‘decadent’ professionals, was stopped in a Toyota Prius registered to his mother’s name in Hampstead, northwest London, on August 1.  

The 37-year-old’s wealthy family sobbed in court as they heard how he had turned to Class A drugs after caring for his father, the author Gil Elliott, who died aged 86 last year. 

His mother Kenteas Brine, who starred in Monty Python and Chariots of Fire, wrote a letter to the judge in support of her son and watched from the public gallery as he was jailed today.  

Brine-Elliott was also found with several phones, weighing scales and a haul of cocaine which had a purity of 89 per cent. 

He bowed his head at the judge’s remarks while his family wept in the public gallery.

Oliver Renton, defending, told the court that Brine-Elliott had studied to be a product designer and had his own companies in the past.

But after acting as a carer for his father, who passed away last year, he moved from recreational drug use into frequent use. 

His mother Kenteas Brine, who starred in Monty Python and Chariots of Fire, wrote a letter in support of her son and watched from the public gallery as he was jailed today

Brine-Elliott’s father Gil Elliot was a Scottish-born writer who won great acclaim for his work, Twentieth Century Book of the Dead, published in 1972. 

Prosecutor Mark Eldridge told Blackfriar’s Crown Court: ‘On the 1 August this year, officers were on duty in plain clothes and had reason, at about 1.30 in the afternoon, to stop a grey Toyata Prius driven by the defendant, who was driving from King Henry Road, right above Regent’s Park, to the car park of the Marriott hotel.

‘Two police cars then parked in front of the vehicle to prevent it from driving off.’

After handcuffing Brine-Elliott, police told him his car would be searched for drugs. They found several Nokia phones, a pair of scales, self-sealing bags and a white powder that Brine-Elliott claimed was ketamine.

An analysis showed that the phones contained text messages arranging drug deals, the court heard. 

Mr Eldridge added: ‘A large quantity of white power in a Tesco bag was found on the passenger’s side.

‘The officer who found it thought it was about a half kilo and it was described as tightly compressed. The Crown’s view is that the white powder was in in fact a cutting agent.’ 

The judge, Mr Recorder Adrian Chaplin told Brine-Elliott: ‘I have read letters from your mother and brother who are attending today and have no hesitation in observing that you have the support of your family.

‘An awful lot of people who appear in this court do not. But the extent to which that is a mitigation as opposed to your good fortune is perhaps of some doubt.’

‘You, with the support you have from your family, you with important qualifications, with your own challenged may or may not be aware the devastation class A drugs such cocaine devastate communities.

‘You may only sell to decadent professionals, but those involved in the supply of class A drugs exploit communities who do not have the cushioning from their material circumstances.’ 

Kenteas Brine posted this message wishing her son a happy birthday on Facebook in 2016

Mr Renton said: ‘The fact is that after his father passed his usage of cocaine increased to the extent it was nearly daily.

‘He was in the position where he wasn’t getting enough income to meet the requirements of his habit. It was at that point he, very stupidly by his own admission, agreed to run a drugs line.

‘None of the mobile phone messages give any sense this is somebody who habitually bought quantities of drugs like the one he was arrested with.

‘When one works for a drugs line involving people above them in the command chain, a request such as this to move a quantity of drugs is hard to say no to.’

Pointing to his client’s mother and half-brother in the public gallery, Mr Renton said: ‘It is a loving family who will support him on his release from prison.

‘The person I saw in the cells earlier is not the type of person that usually commits these offences.’

Brine-Elliott, from south Hampstead, west London, admitted one count of possession with intent to supply cocaine. He was jailed for four years.

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