Would-be ecstasy dealer confessed all to the cops when he was caught with drugs

Dominic Hanson was stopped in Barnsley town centre at 12.35am, on November 24, 2018, prosecutor Nicola Quinney said on Thursday.

He was found with £80 of MDMA tablets and £80 of cocaine, but told police officers he intended to sell the MDMA and use the cocaine himself.

Hanson admitted this was the first time he had tried to sell drugs, and hadn’t sold any so far. He would only have earned £2.50 per tablet, Ms Quinney said.

Richard Barradell, mitigating, said: "What price honesty, your Honour? Had he kept his mouth shut he would have been facing simple possession."

Hanson, aged 22, of Rose Avenue, Darfield, Barnsley, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and possession with intent to supply MDMA, when he appeared in court on October 21, 2020.

Judge David Dixon told him: "People who deal Class A drugs go to jail.

“That's the stark reality and that's the message the courts have been sending out for years to try and bring it home."

But he said in the two years since his arrest Hanson had "moved on and grown up," and had shown himself to be a “different sort of individual.”

He sentenced him to two years, suspended for two years, and ordered 150 hours of unpaid work.

Judge Dixon warned him: “Don’t let me down.”

The judge described the delay in bringing the case to court as "simply ridiculous" and said it undermined efforts to send a message to drug dealers.

Read the latest cases from Sheffield Crown Court here.

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