Man took drugs into court – in case he was jailed
A BURGLAR turned up to court with a packet of drugs - and they weren’t noticed until after he was sent down by a judge.
Mark Hagland was brought before Cardiff Crown Court after breaking into a pensioner’s home in the dead of night.
The 48-year-old, who has an appalling list of convictions, had been released on bail ahead of the hearing.
But fearing another stretch in jail, and the issue of how he would cope without drugs, he decided to put a 20g bag of spice inside his clothing before turning up to face the music.
Hagland was then hit with a 28 month jail term before being taken straight to HM Cardiff Prison.
However, at around 5pm on August 16 last year, he was told to sit in the body orifice scanner, known as the “boss chair”, which showed he was hiding a banned item.
Asked if he had anything on him he should not, he replied: “Nothing.” However, he then changed his story and admitted he had a small package of spice.
Jason Howells, prosecuting said he was taken to a cell, given prison clothing and the item was recovered. The package was found to contain 19.6g of spice.
He was interviewed on April 6 and made full admissions, telling officers he “panicked” and felt he would not be able to cope without the drug.
Mr Howells said the defendant had 94 previous offences on his record, including “all types of offending behaviour”.
His previous offences included growing cannabis, possessing and supplying controlled drugs, assault, criminal damage, dishonesty, driving offences and escaping from lawful custody.
The prosecution said there was no evidence to suggest he was given the spice while he was at court.
Andrew Kendall, defending, accepted there was potential for the drugs to have been passed on, but stressed they were not.
He said his client is a serving prisoner and was due to be released in October this year, but was told he would be eligible for release early in July.
Mr Kendall acknowledged Hagland had a “lengthy” offending history, but pointed out he had never tried to take forbidden items into prison before and his last drug offence was back in 2014.
He said his client was keen for the judge to know he has used his time in prison so far to complete a course that will enable him to work on the railways when he is released.
The court heard Hagland had to pass two drugs tests to be allowed to complete the course. He has also done a construction course.
Mr Kendall added: “That is his main aim now - to try to get his head down, work and provide for his family.”
However, Judge Michael Fitton QC was unimpressed.
And while he accepted Hagland took the drugs in for personal use due to addiction, he added: “You were clearly breaking the law. You had the temerity to bring it with you to court.
“Drugs taken into the prison estate have a higher value than they would do outside.”
“You have a terrible record of convictions. You have committed offences of every type. It is about time you realised this is no way to spend the rest of your life.”
Hagland, from Bryncyn, Pentwyn, Cardiff, was jailed for six months on top of the sentence he is currently serving and an order was made for the drugs to be destroyed.