A YOUNG Carlisle van driver has heard “custody is inevitable” after 2kg of high purity cocaine, potentially worth £200,000, was found in his vehicle.
Ellis Graham, 22, was behind the wheel of a Vauxhall Vivaro which was stopped by police constables on the A689 north of the city at around 8-45pm on January 30.
Graham, of Hopes Hill Drive, Carlisle, was brought before the city’s magistrates’ court and admitted possessing the class A drug with intent to supply.
His case was sent for sentence to Carlisle Crown Court, where today (THURS) it emerged that 2kg of high purity cocaine in two 1kg blocks had been seized from the vehicle. A senior detective had concluded the drug, if adulterated to boost quantity and then sold in individual street deals, could potentially fetch £200,000.
However, Recorder Eric Lamb learned there was a sizeable dispute between the prosecution and the defendant’s indications about his level of illegal involvement. Graham had told a probation officer he had played a less serious role.
Recorder Lamb directed that Graham must submit a formal written basis for his guilty plea within seven days. If the prosecution continue to take issue with his version of events, another crown court hearing will be held in front of a judge who will make a factual ruling after hearing evidence before passing sentence.
This was provisionally listed for June 1, and Graham was remanded in custody in the meantime. But in any event, Recorder Lamb told Graham: “Custody is inevitable.”
