Vincent John Cooper had left just over 0.3g of cocaine and 1.7g of cannabis at the property, but went to the police to say they belonged to him.
Following his admission, the police released another individual they had arrested under the suspicion of possession of drugs.
Mr Cooper’s Advocate, Luke Sette, described the drugs as being for personal use and said it was only “small amounts.” He said: “Mr Cooper voluntarily attended the police station to hand himself in. By doing so, he removed suspicions over others. He feels remorse for having implicated others by leaving drugs at the address.”
Advocate Sette said that the incident had been a lapse rather than a relapse, adding that Mr Cooper has been attending the Alcohol and Drugs Services twice a month and is making progress.
Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris described Mr Cooper’s case was “slightly unusual” as the drugs were found at someone else’s property, causing them to be suspected of the offence. “Your action in police headquarters made the police no longer suspect them,” he said. “And for that you deserve full credit… This goes above and beyond the normal and guilty plea.”
He however noted that Mr Cooper had a poor record including two “pretty recent” drug charges from 2017. He told Mr Cooper: “You know you shouldn’t have had that. The police know where you are, they know where you live. If you continue, you put yourself at risk of further time.”
The Assistant Magistrate warned Mr Cooper that even a first offender could be sent to prison for the possession of a Class A drug. “Custodial sentence is the norm,” he said. “Of course, community service is always an alternative.” He explained that setting a sentence was not a “precise science” and that a lot of matters had to be taken into account. He said: “There is the bad record, that is a negative. But then you admitted the offence, that is extra positive.”
He continued: “I would much rather you carry on working with the drugs service and work in the community.” He chose to sentence Mr Cooper to 50 hours of community service for the possession of cocaine and a six month binding-over order for the cannabis.
Handing out the sentence, Assistant Magistrate Harris told Mr Cooper: “You know if you do that work and keep out of trouble, you will keep out of prison. I would rather much you focus on keeping out of trouble… Hopefully, all things will fall in place in a positive way.”
