26/10/2007 00:00:00
UK: Jail for man with drugs and cash in car
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A MAN aged 59 was jailed for 12 months yesterday for carrying drugs and
a large amount of cash in his car.
Prem Ashok, of Manchester Road, Huddersfield, was driving an old Toyota
Corolla over the Menai suspension bridge on March 26 when a police van
spotted the tax disc and officers stopped him at a nearby garage.
A search revealed 400g of cannabis with a street value of £1,700 in
three bags and £1,400 in cash secreted in a bag around Ashok’s waist.
The painter and decorator admitted possessing cannabis with intent to
supply when he appeared at Caernarfon Crown Court but insisted he was
not selling the drugs commercially.
Giving evidence he told Judge John Rogers QC the drugs were for friends
in North Wales. He charged them only wholesale prices and money for petrol.
Quizzed by the judge, he said the cash was to buy a more economical car.
“It doesn’t have an airbag and I am a very safety conscious person,” he
said.
“Why buy one in North Wales, you live in Huddersfield, could you not buy
one there?” asked the judge.
“I have a friend in North Wales who is very good mechanically. I was
going to ask his advice,” Ashok replied.
Ashok said he had bought the drugs the previous day in Huddersfield and
had visited a friend in the Llandudno area and was on his way to
Llannerchymedd to visit another friend.
He refused to name the friends he was visiting, claiming he did not want
their names to become known to police.
Rejecting his claims the judge said he took the view Ashok was a
commercial dealer doing his rounds.
Jailing him, the judge said: “I’m quite satisfied when you were arrested
on March 26 you were in North Wales supplying drugs on a commercial
basis. A prison sentence for this offence is inevitable.”
The drugs were ordered to be forfeited and destroyed and Ashok told an
investigation would be held, under the Proceeds of Crime Act, into his
financial affairs.
Source:
http://www.ukcia.org/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=12953
Author:
Daily Post via UKCIA
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