A drug user who had cannabis and cocaine stashed in a cupboard, wardrobe and tupperware container has been sent to prison for five years.
Kris Anthony Dowling, 25, committed his second offences while still on bail for the first, the Court of General Gaol Delivery was told.
Police acting on a tip-off searched an address in Peveril Terrace, Douglas, on March 13, where they found just over 61 grammes of cocaine and 160 grammes of cannabis.
Enquiries led police to the defendant, Dowling. When he was arrested, Dowling had with him an iPhone, a cannabis grinder and £280 in cash, which he said was partly to pay debts and partly his daughter’s nursery fees.
He told police he had a drugs habit that cost him thousands of pounds a year and the drugs were all his, for personal use. However, examination of messages on the defendant’s phone suggested he was also supplying drugs.
Rachel Braidwood, for the prosecution, said the value of the cocaine was £50 to £70 per gramme.
Dowling told police he thought the cocaine was a legal high. He offered no comment on the phone messages.
Less than a month later, on April 7, police searched his flat in Murray’s Road. There, they seized a wrap of white powder from his wardrobe, a grinder, a tin containing cannabis, some scales and mobile phones. This time, there was just over 32 grammes of cannabis worth £660 and four grammes of cocaine worth £250 to £300. The grinder contained a small amount of cannabis worth £40, the court heard.
Dowling’s advocate, Louise Cooil said he now wanted to leave his past behind him. She said he had accepted responsibility for his offending and regretted it.
‘He is going to have some considerable time in prison to reflect on what has happened and how to improve his life in the future,’ she said.
The court heard Dowling had suffered bereavement in 2012 and had also lost his job.
‘His life fell apart,’ said Ms Cooil. ‘He was not using his time productively and he was using drugs heavily. He was not able to fund it himself and he was now buying ‘‘on tick’’. He had a debt he had no hope of paying so he accepted an offer in order to pay his debt.’
Passing sentence, Deemster Alastair Montgomerie said the offences were aggravated by the quantity of drugs, his previous offences and the second offences being committed while he was on bail.
But he noted that, during his time on remand, Dowling took education courses and worked in the prison kitchens.
Dowling admitted possessing cannabis and cocaine with intent to supply on March 13, possessing cannabis with intent to supply and simple possession of cannabis and cocaine on April 7. He received five and a half years’ custody and the drugs are to be forfeited and destroyed.
‘Drug dealers use people; they are only concerned about making a profit,’ Deemster Montgomerie told him.