A Douglas teenager has been jailed for four years and three months after being caught with more than 500 ecstasy tablets.
Gates Bacar Mane Cassama collected the pills, hidden in a computer hard drive, from the communal area of the guest house he was staying at.
The 19-year-old then delivered the drugs to a person waiting outside in a car before being arrested.
Deemster Alastair Montgomerie commended the guest house manager who initially intercepted the package saying: ‘By his actions he has prevented more than 500 ecstasy tablets being circulated around the island.’
Cassama pleaded guilty in court to charges of attempting to supply a class ‘A’ drug and attempting to possess a class ‘A’ drug with intent to supply.
Prosecutor Michael Jelski told the court how, in January last year, a package was delivered to the Ainsdale Guest House at Empire Terrace in Douglas where Cassama was living.
It was addressed to ‘Peter Gallagher’ and put on a shelf in the communal foyer area, which was locked with a key code.
The building manager saw the package and, knowing that no-one of that name lived there, took it to his flat as he thought it had been mistakenly delivered.
He could not find a return address so he opened the parcel which contained a computer hard drive.
The drive rattled when shaken so the manager loosened some of the screws to look inside.
Inside he found a silver foil package containing tablets so he called the police.
Police examined the tablets and found 485 pink and white pills with a chilli pepper type logo on them, and 97 green pills with an ‘x’ on them, totalling 582 pills. They were identified as being MDMA.
The package was resealed and put back on the shelf in the Ainsdale while officers observed the area on CCTV.
Cassama was seen to come downstairs while talking on his mobile phone, collect the package and go back up to his room.
Shortly afterwards a Ford Focus pulled up outside and Cassama left the building carrying a plastic bag.
He left the range of the CCTV but returned to the guest house without the bag.
After being arrested Cassama told police he had received a phone call to say the package was there, but did not want to say who it was from, for fear of what they would do.
In a basis of plea accepted by the court Cassama said: ‘I was asked by a friend of a friend if I would accept a package. I was told it was cannabis. I did not organise it. I was just contacted when it arrived. I was to give it to a man without opening it and was to receive cannabis in payment.’
Defending Cassama in court, advocate Louise Cooil said that the teenager had recently moved out of a semi-independent care home.
Ms Cooil said: ‘Perhaps at the time he was open to the influence of others. A friend of a friend asked him and he didn’t think through the consequences.
‘He didn’t expect to be here before the courts, especially for a class ‘A’ drug. He accepts he should have questioned it and said no.
‘It’s a sad case. He has no family on the island. He will be in prison. No doubt care workers will visit him. He was expendable, those who asked him to do their bidding don’t care.
‘He is a young man who has been used and manipulated. It is not something that would ever happen again.’
While passing sentence Deemster Montgomerie said: ‘I do consider you were extremely vulnerable and very easy to take advantage of.
‘The custody threshold is passed, not just passed, but passed by a mile. For someone of your age you are going to receive a substantial prison sentence. I would urge you to use your time in prison positively. It will give you a change to gain qualifications. If you take advantage it’ll give you the best possible opportunity of making a good life when you come out of prison. In reality you assisted for approximately 20 minutes.’
For each of the two offences Cassama was sentenced to four years and three months, to run concurrently.