A cannabis dealer rang the police to tell them he was "sick" of dealing the drug and didn't want to carry on breaking the law, a court has heard. When police went around to Jessie Speck's house they found weighing scales and 15 ready-to-go deals and the dealer explained to the officers how he operated using WhatsApp to communicate with customers. The prosecution barrister called the case "somewhat peculiar".
A judge at Swansea Crown Court questioned why Speck had been held on remand in prison for the last month and said it may have been because he was not legally represented when he appeared before magistrates. He told the defendant there was "more to life than being a nuisance to the police".
Alycia Carpanini, prosecuting, said on the night of March 3 this year Speck rang the police to say he had been dealing cannabis for the last two months and was "sick of it" and didn't want to continue breaking the law. She said said officers went to the 25-year-old's home in Llanelli later that night and found 15 snap bags containing a total of 17g of cannabis, another bag containing 8g of the drug, 61 empty bags, and a set of weighing scales in a shoe box under the television. They also recovered a mobile phone with a smashed screen. The court heard the defendant told officers he had been involved in dealing for the previous two months and had done so to make money and the bags and scales were part of his dealing operation. He also told them he communicated with customers via WhatApp using the disappearing message feature of the app. The prosecutor called the case "somewhat peculiar".
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Jessie Speck, of Dillwyn Street, Llanelli, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis with intent to supply when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has six previous convictions for 13 offences including criminal damage, possession of knives, and assaulting a police officer. Leila Carballo-Williams, for Speck, invited the court to follow the recommendations of the pre-sentence report.
Judge Geraint Walters said Speck had been held on remand "somewhat bizarrely" for 37 days and said he suspected that was due to him not been legally represented at the lower court. The judge told the defendant there was "more to life than being a nuisance to the police" who had other matters they need to focus on and said he hoped the phone call Speck had made to the police was a sign that he really did want to change his life. The defendant was sentenced to a 12-month community order and was ordered to complete a rehabilitation course and 100 hours of unpaid work.
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