A Penrith man is to be sentenced next month for two cocaine supply crimes which were committed almost 12 months apart.
Kyle Chaloner, 42, admitted two offences when he appeared at Carlisle Crown Court this morning over a video link from custody.
Chaloner pleaded guilty to possessing class A drug cocaine with intent to supply, on March 14, 2020, and to the illegal possession of an offensive weapon — a baseball bat — in public at Pategill Road in Penrith, on September 15 this year.
At a previous magistrates’ court hearing, Chaloner had also admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply, and the possession of class B ketamine, both on March 1, 2021.
Prosecutor Gerard Rogerson said the Crown’s case at the sentencing hearing would be opened on the “full facts”, there being an “irresistible inference” Chaloner had remained involved in the supply of drugs at street level a year after the first incident.
Chaloner had told police he did so to “repay a debt”, while his lawyer, Mark Shepherd, said the defendant had been “under pressure” and carried the bat for his own protection.
Judge Richard Archer adjourned the case, and Chaloner is due to be sentenced at the crown court on November 12.
He was granted bail in the meantime, to Rowan Court in Penrith. Judge Archer took that exceptional course after hearing Chaloner had said he was suffering from a serious medical condition and wished to be with his family in the coming weeks.
But the judge said his decision to bail Chaloner was “entirely without prejudice”, and stressed that an immediate jail term could still be imposed for the crimes. “You have pleaded guilty to serious offences,” he told Chaloner.
