Telford monkey dust dealer, 40, warned girlfriend will leave if he deals again
“You’re getting too old for this,” judge tells offender who was caught with drugs worth £666
A monkey dust dealer has avoided prison - but was warned his girlfriend will leave him if he peddles drugs again.
Gary Sylvester, aged 40, was given a stern talking to by Recorder Julian Taylor as he was sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court.
“You are getting too old for this kind of behaviour,” he told Sylvester. “You have a partner. She will leave you if you carry on like this, and who could blame her?
“You clearly have a problem with binge drinking and taking cocaine from time to time.”
The court was told that police officers saw Sylvester getting out of a car in Telford on July 29, 2022, and believed he appeared to be intoxicated.
They searched his car and found a quantity of MDPHP - otherwise known as monkey dust - as well as Alpha PHP, another class B synthetic stimulant.
Altogether, if broken down into single deals, the street value of the drugs seized was estimated to be £666.
Officers also seized £65 cash, digital scales, plastic bags and a phone, which contained messages indicative of drug dealing.
Sylvester was also in possession of a bag containing less than a gram of cocaine, which was accepted as being for his personal use.
He was arrested but answered no comment to questions during his police interview.
Sylvester, of The Timbers, St Georges, Telford, pleaded guilty on the day of his trial to two counts of possession of a class B drug with intent to supply, and one count of possession of cocaine.
He has 48 previous offences on his record, and was caught driving under the influence of drugs around a month after this incident.
Kevin Jones, mitigating, asked the judge to consider that it was a “relatively modest” amount of drugs which were in Sylvester’s possession. He also said Sylvester receives PIP payments.
Recorder Taylor handed Sylvester an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and made him subject of a 12-month probation requirement.
He also ordered Sylvester to pay £300 in prosecution costs, which will be paid off at the agreed rate of £5 per week.
The judge also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs and paraphernalia, and the deprivation of the criminal cash.