‘Result’ for street drug dealer spared more jail

A STREET drug dealer ‘got a result’ when he was not given any more time behind bars when appearing in court for selling Class A drugs.

Gosport cocaine pusher William Lavin, 24, was given a two-year jail term to run at the same time as a sentence of 30 months he was previously given in January for supplying the drug on a separate occasion.

Lavin, of Williams Close, will not have to spend a day more in jail than previously ordered after judge, Recorder Gordon Bebb QC, said the defendant should have been sentenced for both dealing offences at the same time in January.

The Portsmouth Crown Court judge took a lenient view after hearing how Lavin was busted by cops on February 15, 2021, while a passenger in a Volkswagen Golf on the M27. After the car overtook police it was brought to a halt before officers smelt cannabis, prosecutor Richard Cherill said.

A search of Lavin led to £2,040 of cash being found on him, while suspicions were further aroused with traces of white powder found - later confirmed as cocaine.

In total, he was found with 30 sealed bags of cocaine which had a purity of just 39 per cent, which Lavin even found time to joke about, saying: ‘I wouldn’t call it cocaine.’

Rob Harding, defending, said it was a ‘tragic case’ after ‘hardworking’ Lavin had ended up involved in drugs before being jailed for dealing in January. ‘He’s already serving a sentence. To say it is a shock to the system is an understatement,’ he said.

The barrister said dad Lavin was determined to change his ways when released from jail. ‘He intends to turn his life around. This is not the hot air that we often hear,’ he said.

Lavin has a job offer waiting for when he is released from jail and has received enhanced prisoner status amid efforts to make amends for his crimes. Mr Harding, arguing for no extension to the current jail term, said of the January sentence: ‘The matters should have been sentenced at the same time.’

Recorder Bebb said: ‘It’s unfortunate when you appeared (for sentence) on January 14 you were not dealt with for all offences when the court could have dealt with you.

‘If you had been dealt with at the same time you would have had a longer sentence because it would have been two offences of intent to supply Class A drugs and a breach.’

But the judge, treating Lavin as if he was sentencing him in January when he was of good character, decided not to extend the defendant’s jail time amid efforts to turn his life around. ‘You are getting a result here,’ he told Lavin.

Lavin’s two-year sentence after admitting possession with intent to supply a Class A drug will run concurrently with his current 30 month sentence, meaning he will still be released in April.

The judge said Lavin was a ‘street dealer who played a significant role’ and warned him about turning to drugs upon his release.

‘You could come out and start street dealing and spend the rest of your life in and out of prison, no matter how easy it is. I hope you take advantage of (this chance),’ he said.