16 months in jail for Milnthorpe man's Kendal Calling cocaine deal (From The Westmorland Gazette)

16 months in jail for Milnthorpe man's Kendal Calling cocaine deal

6:01pm Thursday 10th December 2009

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)

A MAN has been sent to prison for 16 months after being caught selling drugs at this year’s Kendal Calling music festival.

Daniel Lee Casey, 21, was arrested after he sold £100 of cocaine to two undercover police officers at the festival held at Hackthorpe, near Penrith, in July.

Prosecuting, Paul Lafferty told Carlisle Crown Court the officers had seen Casey, a carpet fitter from Owlet Ash Fields, Milnthorpe, with cocaine and a spoon in the dance tent.

When they approached him, asking if he had any of the class A drug to sell, he took them to a different tent and handed over a bag.

He told them he had a further eight bags – worth another £400 – for sale, the court heard.

Casey was arrested and told police he and ten friends he was with had clubbed together to buy cocaine to share among themselves.

He said he was not supposed to sell it to anyone else, but decided to do so because he was drunk, Mr Lafferty said.

Casey pleaded guilty to supplying and possession with intent to supply the drug.

In mitigation, Jacob Dyer said Casey had meant to supply the drug only to people who were already users.

“This is not a case where undercover police officers have seen him offering drugs to strangers – or offering it to anyone at all, come to that,” he said.

Mr Dyer said there was no suggestion Casey made any money from selling the drug.

“He couldn’t afford his own cocaine use so selling it to his friends was one way of funding it,” he said.

He said Casey was “a pretty naïve” young man who, like “a lot of young men who take cocaine”, had not realised the seriousness of what he was doing.

Mr Dyer added: “He has made himself more aware of the consequences of drug abuse now, and in fact has stopped using drugs altogether.”

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)