Criminals on trial shared cannabis in the courtroom

TWO drug dealers were caught passing cannabis to each other in front of a judge.

Khalid Latif, 18, and Kuany Eljack, 23, were on trial at Blackfriars Crown Court for knifing two men over a £15 drug debt when Latif gave the drugs to Eljack as the jury were sworn in.

Latif was later fined £100 for possession of cannabis.

Judge Michael Simon said: “I suspect that my face may have displayed some disquiet. It seems to me to be utterly inappropriate.”

The court had been told how the pair asked their victims to let them in to their home in Hampstead, north-west London, so they could “cut up drugs”, before stabbing them. Latif then led one of the victims, John Furman, to a local cashpoint machine to withdraw £20. Mr Furman had cuts to his arm and neck, while his friend David Ginova had been slashed across the back, the court heard.

Describing the attack on Jan 6 last year, prosecutor Daniel Wright said: “At 6am John Furman called 999 and asked for an ambulance to attend his home address.

“Someone had stabbed him and his friend and said he needed to get something on his hand because it was bleeding really badly.” Mr Ginova then took the phone and told the operator that he “owed the guys £15”.

The injured men were rushed to St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington where they received emergency treatment.

Latif and Eljack were later arrested and picked out by their victims at a police line up.

Latif, of Camden, was convicted of wounding with intent to cause GBH, unlawful wounding, robbery, witness intimidation, possessing class A drugs with intent and possessing cannabis.

Eljack, also of Camden, was convicted of wounding with intent to cause GBH, unlawful wounding and robbery.