Telford chocolate egg heroin man, 54, spared prison

Judge Peter Barrie told Michael Moss he would give him a chance to beat his long-running heroin addiction – but warned him he would end up in jail if he turned to drugs again.

Moss, 54, had denied a charge of possessing drugs with intent to supply but was convicted by a jury following a two-day trial at Shrewsbury Crown Court in December last year.

He appeared back at court yesterday to be sentenced.

The court heard that the wraps of heroin were found inside a yellow plastic container of the kind that holds the toy inside a Kinder Surprise chocolate treat.

Police made the discovery after Moss was pulled over by police in Telford on the morning of March 4 last year and arrested on suspicion of driving while disqualified and having no insurance.

At the police station, he was found with the drugs, £140 in cash and two mobile phones on him.

Moss, of Prince Charles Crescent in Telford, denied being a drug dealer but had accepted being a heroin addict for "as long as he could remember".

He said he was now on methadone, a substitute drug used in the treatment of heroin addiction.

Mr Timothy Sapwell, for Moss, said: "He is 54 years old, but he looks like a man who is 10 years older, he walks like a man who is 20 years older.

"And when you speak to him, he talks like a man who is 30 years older.

"His role is very unlikely to have been that of a street dealer, standing around, making deals.

"He is much more likely he was transporting drugs from A to B in that car, that he was being told what to do by a dealer and who to take the drugs to."

Judge Peter Barrie sentenced Moss - who 10 years ago was jailed for three offences of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs - to a community order for three years.

It will include drug rehabilitation and alcohol treatment programmes – and the judge warned him it was far from a lenient sentence.

He said: "If you fail to comply with the terms of the order or commit an offence, you may be re-sentenced for this offence without restriction.

"That means you are likely to receive a significantly greater sentence than if I had imposed a suspended prison sentence on you.

"The consequences of failure are really serious – it is up to you."

Moss was told he would have to report back to the crown court every four weeks for justices to review his progress.