The Cumberland News & Star reports
A YOUNG Carlisle man who was caught dealing cocaine on a city street has been spared an immediate jail sentence.
Aidan Roberts, 20, who was aged 18 when police found him with four wraps of cocaine on the city’s Wigton Road, was grateful that police stopped him from getting more involved in the drugs trade, a judge was told.
The defendant had earlier pleaded guilty to an offence of possessing the class A drug with intent to supply.
The court heard that the offending came to light when police who were making routine enquiries on May 12, 2021, became suspicious of the then teenager after seeing him on the street.
When the officers searched him, they found he had four wraps of cocaine worth £160.
He also had a “burner phone”. Police believed the defendant, of Helvellyn Rise, Carlisle, was selling the drug over a two-week period.
In court, defence lawyer Mark Shepherd said the case had already had a serious impact on the defendant’s family as since the case was first reported locally windows had been smashed at Roberts’ family home.
“The family were not ready for that and not anticipating it,” said Mr Shepherd. The incident meant the defendant was now under no illusion about the corrosive effect of being involved in drugs.
The lawyer said the prosecution had been “heart-breaking” for the defendant’s parents, who had worked to ensure he had the best education and was not subjected to negative influences.
He had attended college and got himself a driving licence. But he had found himself in the position of “not being able to say no”. “This was the wrong thing to do,” said the lawyer, referring to the offending.
“He didn’t have the ability to say no. In one sense, he’s grateful to the police for stopping this while it was in its infancy.” Mr Shepherd said Roberts had been naive. He became involved with males who were older than him and while there were no explicit threats the spectre of what might happen if he said no was there.
Read more
https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/23516404.judge-tells-carlisle-cocaine-dealer-apologise-family/
