A Carlisle man caught by police who found cocaine in his underwear has been spared prison by a judge who heard he was pressured into dealing the drug, and subjected to threats of violence.
Lewis Tarrant, 27, had previous been sentenced to a 33-month jail term for possession of the class A substance with intent to supply.
But the fallout from that criminal conduct landed Tarrant in more hot water, as prosecutor Brendan Burke explained Carlisle Crown Court today.
“The previous offence involving loss of ‘product’ meant that people above him were making demands for monetary replacement and pushing him into the repeat offence,” he said.
And on July 1 last year, Tarrant was stopped by police as he drove on the A69 eastbound close to Brampton with a female relative in the front passenger seat.
Because the police deemed him a “person of particular interest”, they conducted a search. Two bundles of high purity cocaine, weighing in at 12.4g, were found in his underwear. “He is dealing at the behest of those making threats,” added Mr Burke of the defendant’s most recent role.
Several hundred pounds’ cash was also found on his arrest, he was taken into custody and admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply when brought to magistrates’ court.
Jeff Smith, defending, said Tarrant had been released from his previous prison sentence and obtained work as he returned to life in the community. But he found, in the “small city” of Carlisle, that “the past is never far away from the present”.
Increasing sums of money were demanded from Tarrant as he sought to provide for his family, and threats were made.
As he passed sentence, Recorder Julian Shaw admitted that as he prepared for the hearing he believed the main issue would simply be “how long do I lock you up?”.
But in view of the background and mitigation, he instead suspended a six-month prison sentence for two years and imposed 100 hours’ unpaid work.
He told Tarrant, of Henderson Road, Carlisle, he was doing so in view of a letter written by the defendant outlining his remorse; his past co-operation with probation service supervision; and in view of the fact that his loved ones’ lives would be “completely destroyed”.
“I do not see why your family should suffer through your stupidity,” said the judge, who stressed that Tarrant should not be handed additional punishment arising from the first offence.
“Don’t go near drugs again, Mr Tarrant, particularly class A,” the judge added. “Do not throw this chance away. It won’t come again.”
