Jailed: Telford drug dealer caught out by cannabis smell
A Telford drugs dealer who was found to be in possession of high purity cocaine has been jailed for two years.
Lewis Carswell, of Hollies Road, Wellington, was stopped twice in four months by police on patrol, who suspected him after smelling cannabis.
Describing the first occasion on March 5, 2017, prosecutor Phillip Beardwell said: “Police saw the defendant driving in a Ford Fiesta and signalled him to stop. As they approached him they smelled cannabis.”
They searched Carswell and his vehicle and found £250 cash, just over 1.5g cannabis and two wraps of cocaine, one of 455mg that was 93 per cent purity, and another that was 801mg and 73 per cent purity.
After his arrest, a search was carried out at his property at Hollies Road, where £2,600 cash was found as well as 77.2g cocaine of 93 per cent purity. He was interviewed by police but released on bail.
Mr Beardwell added: “On July 22, 2017, two officers on patrol saw the defendant driving a Vauxhall Corsa. He got out of the car and officers smelled cannabis. They asked him to stand still but he ran off. There was a foot chase. He tried to climb over a fence.”
Officers used pepper spray to stop him.
Mr Beardwell said: “He had a man bag, which he dropped, containing cash and pots of cannabis.”
Partner
Once again he was arrested, and a warrant was taken out to search his home, this time in Brookside, Telford. Police found £355 cash as well as 6.9g of 91 per cent purity cocaine. They also found a phone with messages alluding to drug deals.
Mr Beardwell added: “The level of purity would suggest he was, or was close to, the importer.”
Carswell, 23, admitted two counts of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs, two counts of possession with intent to supply Class B drugs, and one charge of possession of Class A drugs.
Paul Smith, defending, said: “It’s two years since the first offence. This is a young man who has settled down with his partner. He has done everything he could in the last 18months to rehabilitate himself.”
The court also heard that a co-conspirator had earlier been handed down a lesser sentence at magistrates court for similar offences, due to the lower court having less sentencing powers, a conclusion which Judge Anthony Lowe said was “entirely wrong” and a significant mistake by the CPS.
Sentencing Carswell, the judge said that had he been found guilty after trial, he would have been facing four-and-a-half years in prison.
He said: “It is quite beyond my belief that it has taken this long for this case to get to court.”
