Man with bags of drugs jailed

AN Oldham who was caught with bags of drugs as he turned up for a music festival has been jailed after a judge rejected his claim that they were only to share with friends.

Reese Timperley had pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to possessing ecstasy with intent to supply at the Global Gathering festival in south Warwickshire.

He also admitted having tablets of two amphetamine-like drugs, also with intent to supply, at the annual festival at Long Marston airfield in July last year.

But Timperley (21), of Coalshaw Green Road, Chadderton, entered his pleas on the basis that he and three friends he was with had clubbed together to buy the drugs to share.

Challenged

That was not accepted by the prosecution and after a trial of issue‚ it was also rejected by Judge Marten Coates who then jailed Timperley for two years.

Prosecutor Kathryn Roughton said that as Timperley arrived at the festival he was singled out by a police sniffer dog at the entrance.

When officers challenged him, he reached into his pants and took out a sock with various drugs in it.

There were 33 bags of MDMA (ecstasy) powder weighing a total of 9.78 grams, and two other bags containing 97 tablets of two amphetamine-like drugs.

An expert who examined the drugs said they would have a total street value of £620, but it was common for them to sell at inflated prices at dance festivals.

And Mrs Roughton pointed out that on Timperley’s phone were a number of incoming and outgoing text messages relating to the supply of drugs and referring to the festival.

Giving evidence, Timperley claimed he and three friends with whom he travelled to the festival had each put in £100 to buy the drugs to take at the festival.

He said he had been nominated to take them in, rather than them all take the risk, and that once on the site they would each help themselves, adding that he had no intention to supply them to other festival-goers.

He claimed the text messages were to and from a friend, whom he refused to name, who he said he allowed to use his phone.

But Mrs Roughton pointed out that some of the exchanges about supplying drugs had been initiated by incoming texts and queried how the sender would know his friend had the phone at the time.

Timperley replied: “I don’t know. I’m not a drug dealer, my friend is.”

But after also hearing evidence from one of the friends with whom Timperley travelled to the festival, Judge Coates said: “I don’t have any hesitation that he is someone who is willing to supply drugs.

“I conclude that this stash would have been supplied to others. I am not prepared to say this was a little stash for the four of them, because the text messages suggest something different.”

Jamie Strong, defending, said: “He has known from the outset that cases like this result in imprisonment, and he is terrified by that, but there is a chance for him to receive a suspended sentence.”

But the judge responded: “I can’t really do that because drug-dealing at gatherings like this is rife.”

Jailing Timperley, Judge Coates told him: “I don’t believe what you told me. In some ways you don’t deserve this, but I’m going to give you full credit for your plea.”