Go home and get a good hiding from your dad!
What judge told drug dealer as he decided not to send him to prison
A YOUNG drug dealer was spared jail by a judge who instead sent him away to ‘get the hiding you deserve from your dad’.
Edward Bartlett, 20, was warned he was lucky to avoid a custodial sentence after he admitted selling cannabis to his friends to make cash.
But Judge Niclas Parry decided the young offender should face the music at home, adding: ‘I’m the least of your worries.’
Police found more than £700 worth of the drug, ‘cannabis cookies’ and mobile phones containing messages from customers at Bartlett’s girlfriend’s apartment.
He had left the family home to move in with his girlfriend but had not been able to find a full-time job. Instead he turned to dealing cannabis, the court heard. It is understood his parents are divorced and that he dropped out of education. The judge told him: ‘You have driven your family to despair. You were bang at it. All the phones, the scales, the bags.’
Police only discovered the haul by chance while investigating a break-in at a neighbouring flat. Prosecutor Julian Greenwood told Cardiff Crown Court how police were called to a suspected burglary nearby, which turned out to be a false alarm.
It was then the officers noticed a ‘strong smell of cannabis’ coming from the apartment that Bartlett shared. Inside they discovered 100 grams (3.5oz) of the drug – with a ‘street dealer value’ of between £715 and £965 – mobile phones, weighing scales and plastic bags. Mr Greenwood said the phones contained ‘drug-related text messages’. Bartlett, of Nantyglo, Gwent, admitted possession with intent to supply cannabis, offering to supply the class B drug and simple possession.
The offences were committed last May. Roger Griffiths, defending, said Bartlett was looking for a job to make a fresh start. Judge Parry told Bartlett that by not imposing a custodial sentence he was helping him to look for employment. He said: ‘This happened at a difficult period of your life. You are making something of your life.’ He added those who deal drugs usually end up in prison but he was giving him a chance.
The ‘hiding’ remark was made as Bartlett was walking free out of the dock, having been handed a 12-month community order and 250 hours of unpaid work. The judge ordered that the drugs be forfeited and destroyed.