A WARRANT has been issued for the arrest of an Ambleside man six months after he was given a suspended prison sentence for supplying his landlord with illegal drugs.

Mark Hawkins, 35, had been ordered to co-operate with probation officers after pleading guilty at Carlisle Crown Court to producing and supplying cannabis.

He had also been instructed to return to the court once a month to have his progress on a drugs rehabilitation scheme monitored by a judge.

But, the court heard on Wednesday, Hawkins has not turned up for any recent appointments and nobody knows where he is.

“He has ceased having any contact with the Probation Service,” prosecuting counsel Tim Evans said.

Judge Barbara Forrester issued a warrant, which means that when Hawkins is found he will be arrested and held in custody until he is taken to court.

In February the court heard that Hawkins, whose most recent address was listed as Rydal Road, Ambleside, arranged to pay off a “significant” debt after falling behind with the rent he owed to 38-year-old Darren Allen while living as a lodger in a room at his home in Castlefield, Ambleside.

He was given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, ordered to do 100 hours unpaid community work and made to attend drug rehabilitation sessions for six months.

Allen, who pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis with intent to supply it after being caught with £1,868-worth of Hawkins’s cannabis in his room, was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to do 100 hours unpaid work.