A two-year delay in a case coming to court spared a teenage Class A drug dealer a jail term. The 16-year-old boy was found with drugs after police stopped a car in Bristol.
Bristol Crown Court heard, however, that police took almost two years to charge the youngster. In the meantime he turned 18 and it was not until today (February 2, 2023) that he was sentenced.
Judge Michael Cullum described the delay as "appalling". He said if the defendant had been promptly sentenced by the Youth Court it was likely he would have been given a referral order. The judge therefore handed him an equivalent two-year community order with rehabilitation and 180 hours' unpaid work.
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The judge told teenager: "I deal with many young people who haven't got parents who come to court. You've got two parents who have come to court because you are their son.
"You need to think about that and ensure you never put them in a position of coming to court not knowing if the judge is going to send their son to prison or not. A lot suffered during Covid. Hundreds of thousands of youngsters were in your position and they didn't all sell Class A drugs."
Catherine Flint, prosecuting, said in January 2021 police stopped a Ford Mondeo which they spotted travelling the wrong way down Lamb Street, Bristol. In the car were two adults, the defendant and a girl.
Miss Flint said the defendant was found to have two snapbags of white powder, a snapbag of blue tablets and £55 in cash. Police who searched his bedroom at home found £1,815 cash, 31 Ecstasy tablets, 24 LSD tablets, 4g of MDMA, 1g of ketamine, 11g of cannabis, pharmaceutical drugs, scales and snapbags.
When interviewed he made no comment. The court heard he was charged by a postal requisition on October 26, 2022.
Ieuan Callaghan, defending, said no reason could be given why it took almost two years to charge his client, during which the boy and his parents had suffered "enormous pain" and his client had found it very difficult to move on with his life. Mr Callaghan said his client was aged 16 at the time, and had been a naïve and immature youngster with mental health issues.
He told the court: "He was bored at home because there was no school. He wanted to get in with a cool group at school. The dealing came about to fund his own habit."
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