Telford man threw £12,000 of skunk cannabis out of window as police arrived

Ismail Zafar's fingerprints were found all over the bags of skunk cannabis, which were eventually retrieved by officers from a neighbour's garden.

The 22-year-old, of Hurleybrook Way, Leegomery, admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply at a previous court hearing and was at Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday to be sentenced.

Mr Rupert Jones, prosecuting, said police turned up at Zafar's house on August 28 last year with a search warrant.

"When police arrived, a man was seen upstairs throwing bags out of an upstairs window into a neighbour's garden," Mr Jones told the court.

"They were retrieved and contained a total of one-and-a-half kilograms of skunk cannabis.

"The value of it could be anything between £2,000 and £15,000.

"If it was packaged up as eighths and sold for £30 a bag, it would have a value of £12,840.

"The defendants fingerprints were found on many of these packages.

"A mobile phone was also recovered, a black Samsung phone, and it was found to contain messages indicative of supplying drugs.

"The messages on the phone make it plain his involvement was in street dealing."

Mr William Douglas-Jones, defending Zafar, said with the exception of one text, all of the messages relating to drug supply fell between a "relatively short" time period in July and August last year.

"It demonstrates a relatively short period of supply," Mr Douglas-Jones told the court. "This is street dealing."

He added: "He is a man of commendable attributes. He accepts full responsibility for his offending and does not seek to minimise it.

"It came about as a result of dire familial financial straits, and through poor decision making and wrong choices."

Judge Peter Barrie sentenced Zafar to eight months in prison – but opted to suspend the jail term for a period of 12 months.

It means if he stays out of trouble in the next year, he will avoid having to serve time in prison for the drugs offence.

Sentencing him, the judge said: "You were found to be in possession of a very substantial quantity of skunk cannabis, with a street value in the region of £12,000.

"Your explanation for this has been, having lost a job, that you took to drug dealing supply for financial reasons, not being a drug user yourself.

"I am satisfied that I can suspend a prison sentence. But I want to make it clear that this is serious offending.

"The requirements that I impose on you will be very burdensome and they are meant to be. It will take up a lot of your spare time."

Zafar was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and complete a 20-day rehabilitation work programme with the probation service.