Text messages on Telford man's phone lead to drug dealing conviction
A 21-year-old Telford man caught with cannabis may not have ended up in court if texts on his phone had not shown him up to be a dealer, a court heard.
Joshua Derek Windsor pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis with intent to supply when he appeared at Telford Magistrates Court.
Mrs Katie Price, prosecuting, said Windsor had been among a group of people in a car being followed by police in Aqueduct, Telford, on the afternoon of January 2.
Mrs Price said police had noticed the smell of cannabis coming from the Renault Clio and pulled it over. The occupants were searched and cannabis with a value of between £200 and £400 was discovered.
The defendant's phone was also seized and was found to contain 81 text messages referring to drug dealing, said Mrs Price.
She added that Windsor had told police that he and eight friends had grouped together to buy drugs in bulk and share them out because they did not like going direct to Telford drug dealers.
The court heard Windsor, of New Road, Dawley, who works as a landscaper, had one previous conviction but nothing related to drugs, but had been acting as a gobetween.
Magistrates gave him a 12-month community order with 100 hours of unpaid work, £85 prosecution costs and a victim surcharge of £60.
For Windsor, Mr Oliver Nicholas said of the drug arrangement: "Financially it makes great sense, unfortunately the sad fact is that it's illegal and he shouldn't be doing it."
For the probation service Mr Paul Kalita said that given the amount of drugs that was discovered, the defendant may not have even ended up in court were it not for the evidence of drug dealing on his phone.
