Paul Bruce was caught with 28 wraps of the drug when he ran on to a bus after officers spotted him acting suspiciously. And as well as having the drugs, which weighed about five grams, the 25-year-old also had £160 in cash. Rachel Marshall, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court how officers saw him acting suspiciously on Friday, November 9 last year. She said they followed him as he ran on to a bus and saw him put something into his backside. He was arrested and officers later recovered a package which contained 28 wraps of drugs. When he was questioned he told police he was acting under duress as he had previous drug problems and his dealer had beaten him up. He said he had to do jobs for him including acting as a courier which is what he was doing when he was arrested. The court heard he had a number of previous convictions for dishonesty consistent with drug addiction as well as possessing cannabis in 2000 and heroin in 2003. Bruce, who gave the court a care of address in Purton Road, pleaded guilty to possessing heroin with intent to supply. Mike Pulsford, defending, said his client accepted he had bought the drugs and was to supply them to friends. His client’s mother had left him some money to look after himself while she went away, he said, and he had spent it on the drugs.
He said that he had also withdrawn some money from his bank account shortly before he was arrested as his Giro had just been paid in. Although he had planned to sell the drugs, he said he did not have an opportunity before he was arrested, so none of the money came from that. He said in the time since the offence his client had stopped taking drugs and had been offered work if he kept his liberty. But jailing him, Judge John McNaught said: “A lot of the criminal cases that come before the court here and up and down the country are drug related. “Higher courts in London tell me what I have to do to people who are caught with class A drugs with intent.
“The courts do what they can, it may not be much but they do what they can. Anyone who risks it must know that they may go to prison.” He also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs and the confiscation of the £160 he had on him when he was arrested.
He said that he had also withdrawn some money from his bank account shortly before he was arrested as his Giro had just been paid in. Although he had planned to sell the drugs, he said he did not have an opportunity before he was arrested, so none of the money came from that. He said in the time since the offence his client had stopped taking drugs and had been offered work if he kept his liberty. But jailing him, Judge John McNaught said: “A lot of the criminal cases that come before the court here and up and down the country are drug related. “Higher courts in London tell me what I have to do to people who are caught with class A drugs with intent.
“The courts do what they can, it may not be much but they do what they can. Anyone who risks it must know that they may go to prison.” He also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs and the confiscation of the £160 he had on him when he was arrested.
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