Supply of Class B drugs - MMS secure Community Order

Case study summary

We represented a young man charged with supplying cannabis and being in possession of cash from the proceeds of crime. He pleaded guilty and after expert mitigation submitted on his behalf, he avoided a prison sentence and received a low level community order.

Case study

Our client was a 19 year old man stopped and found in possession of a numerous bags of cannabis and a large amount of cash. He had no previous convictions and was very worried about what might happen to him once the matter reached court.

He was charged with being in Possession of a controlled drug of class B with intent to supply in contravention of section 4(1) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 contrary to section 5(3) of and Schedule 4 to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. He was also charged with Acquiring, using or being in possession of criminal property contrary to sections 329(1) and 334(1) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 due to the cash that was found on him.

He accepted responsibility for these offences. However, he was a user of cannabis himself and had got involved in supplying drugs to repay a debt from his own drug use. The prosecution argued that he fell into a 'significant' role and tried to persuade the court that he should be given a prison sentence.

We went the through the sentencing guidelines in detail with the court to explain his specific situation and make sure his individual circumstances were understood. We argued that when those guidelines were applied properly, and not just based on suggestions made by the prosecution, then our client fell into a 'lessor' role which gave other options to the court as to how they sentenced him.

Due to carefully prepared mitigation and skilful argument, the court rejected the prosecution argument and agreed with our submissions. As a result he received a low level community order. This meant it was less likely to have such a negative impact on his future, allowing our client to start finding work sooner and put this difficult period behind him.