Man hid cannabis under car bonnet (From Tivyside Advertiser)

Man hid cannabis under car bonnet

9:49am Monday 18th February 2013 in News

A cannabis dealer found with almost £2,000 worth of drugs hidden under the bonnet of his car has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Aaron Daniel Robert James, aged 22, admitted possessing 6.9 ounces of cannabis with intent to supply.

Swansea crown court heard how police stopped James' blue Rover car on May 9 last year on the A44 near Ponterwyd.

Craig Jones, prosecuting, said officers looked under the bonnet and found a Sainsbury supermarket bag next to the battery.

When they asked James what was inside he replied, "I'm not going to lie. It's seven ounces of cannabis."

Police also checked his mobile telephone and found text messages that showed his involvement in and his use of controlled drugs.

The cannabis would have been worth between £1,380 and £1,950 on the streets.

In December, 2010, the court heard, James had been cautioned by the police for possessing the animal tranquiliser ketamine.

James' barrister, Georgina Buckley, said he realised the offending passed the custody threshold.

James, she added, had been trying to make a small profit to fund his own drug use. She said he had since left the Aberystwyth area to get away from the people he had been mixing with.

James, of 6 The Beeches, Llandysul, was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for 18 months, placed under supervision for 12 months and ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work for the community.

The Judge, Mr Recorder Keith Bush, told James that honest work may not pay as well as dealing in drugs but it would not result in him appearing in court.