A MAN with a rare heart condition built up a heavy cannabis use and got into debt with his supplier.
It was suggested to Alan David Taylor, 24, that one way of reducing his £1,600 debt was to advertise his dealer’s wares – and he effectively became a salesman, sending texts to friends about the drugs the dealer had available.
He was arrested and charged but while on bail he reoffended, Mold Crown Court was told.
Taylor was further arrested while out supplying drugs on his bicycle.
Taylor, formerly of Victoria Crescent in Pontybodkin, but now of Ochr y Waen, Buckley, was spared an immediate prison sentence on Friday.
The court heard Taylor had a remote heart monitoring device attached to his home phone which regularly sent data from his pace maker to the heart hospital in Manchester.
If there was any sudden change then he was immediately admitted for treatment and doctors were concerned at his ability to cope in prison.
The judge, Mr Recorder Wyn Lloyd Jones, gave Taylor a 16-month prison sentence suspended for two years.
He was placed on supervision and made the subject of a drug rehabilitation programme with regular testing and court reviews.
A total of £770, which Taylor claimed was his savings for a deposit on a flat, was forfeited under The Proceeds of Crime Act.
Mr Recorder Wyn Lloyd Jones said his was a good example of what happened to young people who started using controlled drugs, could not pay for them, and drug dealers got their claws into them.
Quite often there was a culture of violence and threats, all done so people higher up the chain could make money.
He had been arrested and bailed when he had effectively become a salesman for his dealer.
But he then carried on offending after his arrest when he was placed on bail.
The sentence was intended to ensure he kept off substances and stopped offending,
Taylor admitted possessing cannabis in May last year and six counts of making an offer to supply the class B drug on behalf of his dealer in April.
Then while on bail he admitted a further charge of possessing cannabis with intent to supply.
Prosecutor Gareth Parry said police carried out a search warrant at the Pontybodkin address in May of last year and recovered cannabis.
His mobile phone was analysed and text messages advertising drugs for sale were found, which had been sent to between 18 and 40 contacts.
Then while on bail, police saw him on his bicycle in Corwen Road, Pontybodkin, where he was found to have cannabis and associated items.
A total of £770 was recovered from his wallet.
Oliver King, defending, said Taylor now lived with his partner and child in Buckley but his mother faced eviction by the local authority because of his activities.
She was totally innocent and knew nothing about what was going on, but she had been warned she would be evicted if he received an immediate custodial sentence.
It was his mother who had since paid off his drugs debt.
He had built up a heavy use of cannabis and was spending £60 a week at one stage. He had built up a debt and it was an attempt to reduce that debt that he effectively became a salesman or a go-between for his dealer.
When arrested and bailed, the debt did not go away, the pressure was still there, and he had been persuaded to do some street dealing locally.
Taylor was motivated to change and had sought help from the drugs agencies last year.
“If the court gives him a chance, he has promised me that he will not be back in court again,” Mr King explained.