Suspended sentence for man caught delivering cannabis
A former drug addict was caught delivering £4,000 worth of cannabis to pay off old drug debts.
Danny Tandy, 53, of Swinburn Place, Rotherham, was stopped on the A5 at Nesscliffe in January last year, with up to £4,000 worth of the Class B drug in a van.
Phone and bank records showed he had made numerous visits to an address in Blenheim Close, Oswestry.
He admitted the charge of supplying cannabis, and was given eight months in prison, suspended for 18 months by Judge Anthony Lowe at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Wednesday.
Phillip Beardwell, prosecuting, told the court how police had been given intelligence that a drugs drop was taking place at an address in Oswestry, from a Mercedes van.
That van was stopped on the A5 on January 28, 2017, where Tandy was under the influence of drugs.
Officers found a package of cannabis in the van, worth between £2,500 and £4,000.
The court was told that a number of people were involved in the case, but had not faced charges.
Police found transactions on Tandy's phone, running into the thousands for drug drops in Rotherham and Oswestry.
Mr Beardwell said Tandy had not played the role of a courier, but a significant role in moving drugs into Oswestry.
Ranjit Sandhu, defending, said his client had been a class A drug user for 25 years, but had been clean since 2012.
He told the court Tandy was acting under duress to complete the drug drops, to pay off outstanding drug debts.
However, now he works as a suspended ceiling fixer, and he can pay any debts himself in future.
Mr Sandhu said it was a stupidity and a lack of thinking on his client's part, and that his employer did not know what he was using the van for.
Judge Lowe warned Tandy not to get in to the position again, and sentenced him to eight months custody, suspended for 18 months.
He was also ordered to complete 180 hours of unpaid work.
