A DRUG dealer from Penrith caught on camera as he supplied ecstasy to festival goers at Kendal Calling near his home town has been jailed.
Police were alerted after security staff at last year’s event noted a man acting suspiciously on the Lowther Deer Park site at around 3pm on July 28.
“It looked like he was carrying out exchanges with festival goers,” prosecutor Kate Hammond told Carlisle Crown Court. “Cash was being exchanged.”
On arrest, 31-year-old Layton Jude initially denied dealing but then confessed he had sold to friends illegal class A tablets he’d bought from people leaving the event.
Sixty ecstasy tablets and £255 cash was recovered from Jude, of Carleton Meadows, Penrith, along with a personal use amount of cocaine.
A self-employed plumber and part-time DJ, he admitted possessing ecstasy with intent to supply and cocaine possession, offending which occurred just a day after the anniversary of his mother’s death.
The court heard of Jude’s genuine remorse for offending which his barrister, Clare Thomas, said was “out of character” for a defendant who had overcome adversity in his personal life. “He is somebody who can most properly be described as a hard-working family man,” said Miss Thomas. “He has made what he would accept was an extremely foolish decision that has jeopardised his family’s stability.”
Recorder Eric Lamb jailed Jude for 32 months this morning (THURS), stating that his offending was “grossly aggravated” by the fact it took place at a music festival.
However, the court heard Cumbria police had spoken of a “pattern of falling supply” of illegal drugs at Kendal Calling due to pro-active work by officers to stamp it out.
