A courier caught transporting £80,000-worth of cannabis as he sought to offset a large drug debt has been ordered to undergo rehabilitation by magistrates.
Thomas Watson, 22, was pulled over by police as he travelled northbound on the M6 near Southwaite, between Penrith and Carlisle, on May 1 last year. Their attention was drawn to his Citroen Berlingo vehicle because it was in the central lane but not overtaking.
Watson’s girlfriend was a passenger in the Citroen, which was searched after he had identified himself.
“There was a large quantity of cannabis, vacuum-packed inside white and red shopping bags in the back,” prosecutor George Shelley told Carlisle magistrates court earlier today.
Watson was arrested, detained and his haul was forensically analysed. That revealed there was a fraction under eight kilos of the class B controlled drug potentially worth up to £80,000 if sold on the street.
Watson later admitted possessing the drug with intent to supply on a formal agreed basis. “Essentially he was in so much debt he was transporting the drugs as part of a way of discharging that debt,” said Mr Shelley.
Chris Toms, defending, said Watson — a man of previous good character — had been making a “one-off” trip after a direct threat was made to he and his family. Since his arrest, he had been stabbed by those in charge of the cannabis, and was not likely to regain full feeling in his injured arm for the next 12 months.
Magistrates considered mitigation and also a detailed eight-page probation service pre-sentence report before handing down their punishment.
They imposed a community order. Watson, of Bilsdale Gardens, Guisborough, must complete a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 35 days and also a four-month electronically monitored night time curfew.
In addition, he must pay £85 costs and a £95 mandatory surcharge.
