DRUG DEALER’S OUTBURST AT JUDGE IN THE DOCK
A DRUG dealer from Runcorn could face an extra three months behind bars after a foul-mouthed outburst in response to a sentencing judge.
Callum Pope, 20, of Lime Grove, was sentenced to two years in prison at Chester Crown Court on Monday (July 27) having been convicted at trial of possessing cannabis with intent to supply.
Police had found Pope with a tin containing 106 grams of the Class B drug in snapbags and another three quarters of an ounce (21 grams) of the substance loose on June 11, Judge Steven Everett, Honorary Recorder Of Chester, told the hearing.
Officers also discovered scales and ‘other drug paraphernalia’.
Pope, appearing by videolink, had previous convictions for supplying cannabis from 2018 and conspiracy to supply the same drug in 2019 alongside two co-defendants.
At Chester Crown Court on Monday, defence counsel Simon Christie said Pope had been smoking cannabis from the age of 12 in addition to ‘what I suspect are mental health difficulties’, noting how Pope had ‘struggled’ during his trial.
He added that Pope was a ‘young man of 20’ who had been in custody since June.
As Recorder Everett was giving his sentencing comments, Pope interrupted him by quickly muttering something, resulting in the judge asking the guard to ‘just send him away please’.
Pope protested ‘I haven’t said nothing your honour’, but the guard confirmed ‘it was Callum’.
The dealer’s brief outburst followed, and included the profanities ‘f***’ and ‘b***end’.
The exchange had followed an earlier interruption from Pope.
After Pope’s exit, the judge asked Mr Christie to speak to his client when possible and ask him to apologise.
He warned that failure to do so could result in three extra months behind bars.
Recorder Everett placed the offence towards the higher end of the sentencing bracket, which with no guilty plea entered indicated a sentence of around 30 months in prison.
However, he reduced it by six months having taken into consideration that Pope suffered some form of learning disability and also the ‘Manning effect’, which suggests sentences can be shortened to reflect the harsher conditions in prison during the coronavirus pandemic.
He sentenced Pope to two years in prison, and adjourned for a CBO hearing.
During his summing-up remarks and referring to Pope’s quick return to dealing after being released from his last spell in custody, Judge Everett said: “It’s very obvious from that further offence that you’ve decided you are going to carry on supplying cannabis come what may, and when you were released you carried on because here you are in a relatively short space of time of being released you were carrying on supplying cannabis.
“Some people say cannabis isn’t that serious. “Cannabis is a Class B drug. “There’s proof it causes mental health issues.
“There’s a substantial amount of evidence it causes heart conditions, and it’s a really antisocial drug and those who supply it, you are antisocial people who don’t give two hoots.”
Anthony O’Donohoe appeared for the prosecution but played little part, having opened the case at a previous hearing.
A CBO hearing was pencilled in to take place yesterday.
Cheshire police said drug experts had determined the cannabis was worth around £1,620.
A force spokesman said officers found the tin in a garden at a property on Pool Lane when officers were attending on an unrelated matter and saw Pope leave via the back door and stash the tin.
Pope claimed the cannabis was for personal use but the police found digital scales containing traces of cannabis and a mobile found that was subsequently found to contain text messages regarding drug dealing were found inside the address.