Drug addict narrowly avoids prison sentence

A man who admitted possessing over a kilo of cannabis has narrowly escaped prison.

Ricky Moore (24) was caught with the drugs after police executed a search warrant at his girlfriend’s home in Black Prince Avenue, Market Deeping.

Lincoln Crown Court heard officers found 373 grams of cannabis in the living room.

It was contained in various carrier bags and a box within a shoebox.

A further 653 grams of cannabis was discovered in the roof of an outhouse, the court was told.

The court heard over £640 in cash was also seized from various locations in the premises along with a set of digital kitchen scales.

Moore later admitted the cannabis found in the living room was his but insisted he was being paid £100 to look after the larger quantity of cannabis found in the outhouse.

Andrew Scott, prosecuting, said: “He had two separate roles. He was operating with his own cannabis in a modest way. The other drugs would not be sold directly to the street, he was looking after it for someone else.”

Chris Jeyes, mitigating, told the court Moore had been addicted to cannabis for a decade and had been subjected to an element of intimidation.

“The majority of the cannabis seized was that he was looking after for a third party,” Mr Jeyes said. “He is not somebody making a living out of drug dealing.

“He accepts a proportion of the cannabis in the living room would have been sold to subsidise his own use, although he would have used some himself.”

Mr Jeyes added that Moore had suffered the recent death of his mother and his girlfriend was expecting their child in January.

Moore, of Port House, Pinchbeck, admitted possessing 1,026 grams of cannabis following the raid on May 9, this year.

He was sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment suspended for 18 months.

He was also placed under the supervision of a probation officer for 12 months and must carry out 200 hours’ of unpaid work in the community.

Passing sentence Recorder John Butterfield QC told him: “The value of the drugs was somewhere in the region of £7,290.”