WHEN the police raided a man’s home they found enough cannabis to make street deals worth around £36,000 and more than £9,000 worth of the drug M-cat.
The officers also discovered a gas-powered BB gun and six rounds of ammunition – both of which David Roddie was prohibited from having because of a jail term he had served.
Roddie (39) of Arden Court, Court Leet, Binley Woods, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to possessing the two drugs with intent to supply them.
And after pleading guilty to the firearm offences on the day of his trial on those matters at Warwick Crown Court, he was jailed for a total of two years and nine months.
Prosecutor Richard Whitcombe said that in June last year the police entered Roddie’s first-floor flat at 7.30am while he was still in bed.
In the lounge was a holdall which was found to contain bars of cannabis weighing a total of 12.7 kilos, together with ‘tick lists’ and scales.
Mr Whitcombe pointed out that in bulk the cannabis would be worth up to £12,000.
But if the whole amount was divided into £10 street deals it could have made around £36,000 – and text evidence pointed to Roddie dealing with individuals from the premises.
In bags in the kitchen the officers found quantities of M-cat, which like cannabis is a class B drug, with an estimated value of £9,840 in individual deals.
But in addition to the drugs, they found a realistic-looking gas-powered BB revolver and six cartridges which would have ball bearings put in the tips.
Roddie was prohibited from having those items because of a prison sentence he had previously been given for driving offences.
And the court heard that he also had a conviction in 2013 for his minor role in a conspiracy to supply cocaine, for which he had been given a 20-month suspended sentence.
Tom Schofield, defending, said: “I concede an immediate custodial sentence is the only appropriate sentence in this case.”
Accepting the firearm offences would attract a consecutive sentence, he pointed out that the gun was low-powered – and Roddie could have had it legally until a few weeks earlier when the law changed, reducing the power of a gun that could be held by someone who had served a jail term.
Roddie was jailed for 26 months for the cannabis, with a 15-month concurrent term for the M-cat, and was given a seven-month consecutive sentence for the gun and ammunition.
Judge Peter Cooke said: “This offence is aggravated by the defendant’s previous drug conviction for involvement in a conspiracy to supply cocaine, albeit a peripheral involvement.
“Any juxtaposition of drug and firearm offences is of concern to the court.
“The offences of possessing a firearm and ammunition while prohibited should be visited with sentences consecutive to the drug offences.”
But he observed: “There is every probability that when he acquired the items, it wasn’t unlawful for him to do so.”
