A MAN caught with £2,500 worth of cannabis has been sentenced to eight weeks in jail.
Alan Ashley Rawsthorne, 20, of Orchid Walk, Newtown, pleaded guilty to the possession of 246.88 grams of herbal cannabis at Welshpool Magistrates.
Rawsthorne is currently serving a custodial sentence for robbery and the eight weeks for cannabis possession will run concurrently with his existing sentence.
Helen Tench, prosecuting, said that on May 6 this year police had been on patrol in the Marton area when they saw a vehicle which was ‘known to them’.
She said officers could see the occupants of the car ‘passing things around’ and so decided to pull the car over.
Rawsthorne was sitting in the back of the car and officers had noted a strong smell of cannabis.
They then searched the vehicle and found a large amount of cannabis in a plastic bag in the footwell where Rawsthorne was sitting.
In an interview with police Rawsthorne said he had purely been a passenger in the car and had gone to pick up the driver’s daughter on a journey to the Midlands.
He told them he did not use cannabis and had not done so for more than six months.
He added that there was nothing to link him to the drugs.
However, the bag containing the drugs was examined for fingerprints and Rawsthorne’s were found.
Rawsthorne later attended another interview with police in which he told them that all the drugs had belonged to him although he could not explain how he had managed to afford them.
Robert Hanratty, prosecuting, said that it was ‘a most peculiar case’.
He said: “I don’t think you will ever find anyone who has been charged with possession of £2,500 worth of cannabis and not intent to supply.”
Mr Hanratty said it was likely that the drugs had been thrown around the car before the police pulled it over and Rawsthorne was merely the last person to touch the bag.
He said: “It was probably only in his possession for a fleeting minute before the police pulled the car over.”
He added: “He does not have the wherewithal to be a dealer even if he was so inclined.”
Rawsthorne was sentenced to eight weeks custody to run concurrently with his current sentence.
Chairman of the bench Paul Loveluck ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs.