A “SMALL time” drug dealer twice caught with bags of cannabis has been jailed after he was also found to have twice got behind the wheel while banned from driving.

Daniel Green, 31, was first spotted by police officers lurking in the corner of a car park at the Aldi store in Magdalen Street, Colchester, in June 2019.

Ipswich Crown Court heard when officers asked him if he “had anything he shouldn’t”, he produced a bag containing seven wraps of cannabis from one pocket and a further two deal-sized wraps from another.

His phone was found to contain messages concerning the sale of cannabis.

In March 2020, again in Colchester, he was spotted by police in an area “known for drug supply”.

When his rucksack was searched, officers found a seven-inch knife, 52g of cannabis worth £520 and £245 in cash.

Cannabis and a small set of scales were also found at Green’s home.

The court heard Green was twice caught driving while banned from the roads and without insurance in April and May last year.

On the second occasion, on May 12, police officers also discovered cannabis inside the VW car he was driving in Clacton.

The court heard Green also failed to appear in court for a trial after denying the 2019 possession with intent to supply offence, and was convicted in his absence.

He admitted one further count of possession with intent to supply cannabis, one charge of failing to appear in court, possession of a knife, two counts of possession of cannabis, two counts of driving while disqualified and two counts of driving while uninsured.

Daniel Setter, mitigating, said his client, who has 26 convictions for 53 offences, had turned a corner after ceasing his use of cannabis and moving away from his Colchester home.

“He deleted all of the contact numbers of his own dealers and moved away from Colchester to the Clacton area to get away from it all,” he said.

Mr Setter said Green had the knife in his bag for protection and for use in assisting his friend with repair work on a car.

He asserted Green had “taken a risk” by driving while banned in order to take up honest employment.

The court was told Green suffers with cysts on his spine and is due to undergo surgery, a painful condition which led to his absence from court on the day of his trial.

Judge Emma Peters said she accepted Green had been a “small time drug dealer”, who had engaged in “persistent offending”.

She sentenced him to a total of 40 weeks imprisonment and banned him from driving for 31 months.

She said: “Mr Green, I very much hope you start thinking about leading a law-abiding life, otherwise it seems to me you have a fairly miserable future ahead of you.”

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