Dealer free because jails are full

Oct 5 2007 by Sam Wood, The Journal

A DRUG dealer has escaped jail because of prison overcrowding.

Michael Minto, 25, of Pennymoor Square, Pennywell, Sunderland, was caught with a large quantity of Ecstasy tablets in the Blu Bambu nightclub in Sunderland.

He admitted he was selling them on to his friends to fund his own use of the drug. Judge Tony Lancaster said the offence would usually carry a jail term, but in light of prisons being full he would not impose one in this case.

Newcastle Crown Court heard yesterday that on March 9, just before midnight, the deputy manager of the Blu Bambu saw Minto walk up to a man at the bar and ask if he wanted any drugs. Minto saw the deputy manager and walked off into the club. The deputy manager and a doorman searched the club and found Minto with a bag of 34 Ecstasy tablets.

Minto said he would leave, but the police were called. The drugs had a street value of almost £200. He admitted to police that the drugs would have been sold on to his friends.

Minto, who had no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to drug dealing. The judge said: “You are a 25-year-old man who has developed a habit of using Ecstasy. As this habit developed you began to need more of the drug. To fund that habit you sold the drug to your friends. Even this level of casual use would usually call for a period of imprisonment. However, at the moment, the prisons are full and we are reminded by the Court of Appeal not to send people to prison if we can avoid it. You are a man of good character and with no previous convictions. You represent little risk to the public.”

Judge Lancaster sentenced Minto to 12 months in jail sentence, suspended for 12 months. He also ordered 120 hours’ community service.

Blyth Valley MP Ronnie Campbell, a health select committee member, said last night: “He is a very lucky boy. It’s his first offence, so I can understand why the judge has done what he has done. The prisons are full. But this lad needs to thank his lucky stars and if he does it again, then he needs an immediate prison term.”

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice said: “When sentencing in individual cases it is a matter for the courts. We do not comment.”

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