A DEALER caught peddling cannabis while on a suspended sentence for doing exactly the same thing has been jailed for a year.

Jailing Connor Moran for 12 months at Swindon Crown Court on Tuesday, Judge Peter Crabtree said: “Anyone who is involved in the supply of drugs whether class A, B or C is involved in criminality which causes harm to society and serious harm to individuals. That is why this is a serious offence and why in many cases it passes the custody threshold.”

The court heard police officers were following up an unrelated enquiry when they visited Evelyn House in Royston Road, Park South, on September 30 this year.

They noticed Moran throw a number of items from the window of one of the flats. Police barged their way into the flat and seized a total of 109g of cannabis, £90 cash and an Alcatel “burner” mobile phone.

Found on the phone were messages pointing to Moran being involved in the supply of cannabis He was said to be part-way through replying to someone asking for 3.5g of the drug.

The court heard he had almost completed an 18 month suspended sentence imposed in 2019 for possession with intent to supply class B drugs. He had been running a cannabis business out of his bedroom.

Moran, 22, of Aylesbury Street, Swindon, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cannabis.

Defending, Emma Handslip said her client had struggled with addiction and his finances. He had sold drugs in order to fund his own habit and make a small profit. He had completed the suspended sentence order and was assessed by the probation service to be a low risk of reconviction.

Judge Crabtree sentenced Moran to nine months for the drugs supply charge and added three months for the breach of the suspended sentence order.

The drugs and paraphernalia with which Moran was found were ordered to be forfeit and destroyed.

Last year, the court heard Moran had been running his lucrative cannabis business from the bedroom he shared with his younger brother.

In addition to his stock of a super-strong strain of the class B drug he also had scales, knives and a machine gun-style BB gun. Police found thousands in cash, including almost £300 in coins in a variety of jars, as well as a collection of designer trainers.

His brief at the time, Adam Williams, said the young man wanted “to prove to the court that he can become an upstanding member of society”. The court hearing was a “real eye-opener”, the lawyer said.