A judge has rejected a cannabis courier’s appeal against the severity of his prison sentence — and praised eagle-eyed Carlisle police who brought him to justice.
Marco Goga, 22, was the subject of a blue lights stoppage as he sped along London Road in the city at around 1pm on October 17.
Police noted a strong smell of cannabis from the vehicle. Goga admitted he was transporting the class B drug but later denied knowing how much there was.
A search revealed three zip-sealed bags of cannabis in a green holdall.
The cargo weighed in at 3kg and was potentially worth £30,000.Goga also had £345 cash, a small quantity of Albanian currency and two ID cards on his person.
And when one of three addresses he attributed to himself, at Blackfriars Road in Salford, Greater Manchester, was also searched, a further kilo of cannabis worth £10,000 was recovered.
Goga appeared in court the following day, admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply and was jailed for four months.
His appeal into the severity of that sentence was heard at the crown court today.
His lawyer, Jeff Smith, said there had been “little financial gain” for unemployed Goga who, he suggested, could be rehabilitated and made the subject of a suspended sentence.
But the judge, Recorder Philip Grundy, sitting with a magistrate, rejected submissions he said had “no merit”, threw out the appeal and concluded a four-month term was correct.
Recorder Grundy also stated: “It is well known within what I would describe as the ‘county lines’ that if you want to sell drugs, then Carlisle is a potential source of many recipients and purchasers of cannabis and this is what the appellant was doing.”
Of those who brought Goga to justice, Recorder Grundy added: “It is a clear example of police officers doing their ordinary day job and striking lucky as far as this appellant’s criminality is concerned.”
