A drug dealer who desperately tried to disguise his crime by eating a sandwich containing wraps of cocaine has been handed an immediate 16-month jail term.
Matthew Mitchinson, 20, came to the attention of police who stopped a car on Carlisle’s Scotland Road at around 11.30pm on March 21.
Officers had information that Mitchinson was street dealing the class A drug, the city’s crown court heard today, and found £145 during an initial search.
Mitchinson was clutching a sandwich in which he was hiding cocaine wraps. He dropped some of these and, it later emerged, had eaten others.
Police found Mitchinson’s phone was locked but a message still visible on the screen asked: “Are you active still?”
During a first magistrates’ court hearing, Mitchinson, of Raefield, Longtown, admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply and also obstructing a police constable during a search.
A sentencing judge was told Mitchinson committed the offence has he sought pay off a drug debt.
He had displayed a level of immaturity and been exploited by people higher up the criminal chain to offset the debt but was genuinely sorry for his wrongdoing.
Mitchinson had a previous conviction for possessing cocaine. But he no longer used the drug, was keen to remain abstinent and work with the probation service, said his lawyer, who suggested there was strong personal mitigation.
However, Judge Michael Fanning learned from a probation pre-sentence report that Mitchinson had squandered previous chances to engage with professionals who had since withdrawn offers of assistance. A probation officer concluded the service could no longer propose an alternative to custody.
Judge Fanning imposed an immediate 16-month prison sentence, telling Mitchinson: “You need to use this period of stability to sort your problems out, come out of prison and start again.”
