Drug dealer avoids a jail sentence

Thursday, 14 June 2012

By Charles Thomson

A 19-YEAR-OLD drug dealer from Benfleet has escaped jail and been ordered to complete 200 hours of community service.
Bradley Martin, of Waverley Road, was caught by police with 49 MDMA amphetamines tablets after a night out in Southend.
CCTV operators called police at 3.45am on Saturday, December 3, 2011, after spotting Martin and his friends lighting cannabis cigarettes in the doorway of the Royals Shopping Centre.
When police arrived, Martin was caught trying to ditch the bag of blue pills.
He was also found to be in possession of a quantity of cannabis.
Upon his arrest, Martin’s phone was analysed and found to contain 12,000 text messages.
The Crown said: “A substantial amount of that showed that the defendant had been actively involved in the supply of drugs.”
In Martin’s defence, barrister Jacqueline Carey told Judge Graham, presiding over last Wednesday’s hearing at Basildon Crown Court, that Martin had stopped using ‘clubbing drugs’ but still used cannabis on occasions.
She said Martin had left his job in anticipation of a prison sentence and added: “He has the support of a loving, law-abiding family.”
Judge Graham told him that ‘exceptional circumstances’, including the strong support from his family, had helped him escape jail.
He sentenced Martin to 12 months in a young offenders’ institution, suspended for 18 months, complete 200 hours of unpaid work and to observe a six-month curfew.
between 8pm and 6am.
Martin was also ordered to pay £500 costs within 28 days.

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