Drug dealer sentenced to five years in prison

Wednesday 02 October 2024

A 25-year-old drug dealer who was caught with cocaine worth as much as £3,000 has been sentenced to five years in prison.

The Royal Court heard that Ashton Lee Coughlan was found with 10.79 grams of cocaine wrapped in Ziploc bags and another 1.94 grams in cling film during a raid in August 2022.

Coughlan was also found to be in possession of £181 in cash and a receipt showing a cash deposit into a bank account of £750 in £50 bank notes.

Crown Advocate Taylor, prosecuting, said that further investigations revealed “various unexplained payments” totalling £4,700 in Coughlan’s bank account. .

Coughlan had also transferred £10,758 from his Revolut account to his NatWest account.

Coughlan admitted ten offences, including the drugs offences, as well as malicious damage, sending a grossly offensive message, and perverting the course of justice.

The court heard that following the raid on his home, Coughlan refused to give police officers the PIN for his mobile phone.

However, investigators were still able to find messages on social media where he claimed he “basically had unlimited supply” of drugs.

The Snapchat messages showed Coughlan communicating with contacts about “pure rocks” or how he was “all out beans now everyone’s jumped over them only got coke left”.

The correspondence spanned from 16 July 2022 to 6 August 2022.

The court also heard about an incident at the end of 2023, when Coughlan got into an argument with his girlfriend.

The next day, he went to her home and kicked in her door, and sent her abusive messages.

After she made a police report, Coughlan sent her a Snapchat message asking her to “sort this without the police”.

“I ain't a f*ing monster I’d never harm you I was literally drunk,” he wrote.

He later added: “Please just f*ing retract your statement.”

Crown Advocate Taylor asked the court to give Coughlan a seven-year jail term, a domestic abuse protection order, and a £30 compensation order for the door lock.

But Advocate James Bell, defending, argued that a seven-year sentence would be “too harsh”.

Coughlan had dealt drugs in order to pay for his own habit rather than to make a profit, he explained, as “he was struggling with addiction”.

“He does regret his actions,” said Advocate Bell. “I suggest that he is genuinely remorseful.”

The sentencing had been delayed since the summer of 2022, he added, meaning that “the whole matter had been hanging over [Coughlan] and it has been a heavy burden for him to bear”.

In mitigation, defence counsel said that Coughlan was aged 23 at the time of offending and had had a difficult upbringing.

Despite acknowledging that a custodial sentence was inevitable, Advocate Bell pleaded for Coughlan to be able to rehabilitate himself.

Coughlan was sentenced by the Superior Number of the Royal Court, which convenes for cases involving the most serious crimes.

The Deputy Bailiff, Robert MacRae, presiding, noted Coughlan’s “impressive” letter to the court.

He also took into account the two-year delay in bringing Coughlan to court, the man's young age at the time of offending, his “genuine remorse”, and his “difficult start” in life.

The Deputy Bailiff said: “We are impressed with the use you are making of your time in custody and we do hope... that you continue to make good use of that time, and that when you are released you certainly never offend and make good use of your life.”

Coughlan was sentenced to a total of five years’ imprisonment, and was given a restraining order for seven years.

There was no compensation order.

The Jurats sitting were Elizabeth Dulake, Steven Austin-Vautier, Karen Le Cornu, Alison Opfermann and Michael Entwistle.