A man who has been using drugs since he was 13 has been jailed for possession of a range of narcotics.

Colchester magistrates heard that police had a drugs warrant to search a house in Charles Pell Road, Colchester.

Beata Kopel, prosecuting, said 24-year-old Greig showed officers a bedside drawer holding four bags with substances, two pairs of scales, a knife and a burnt spoon.

An estimated value of the drugs was £405.

Greig told police the drugs were for personal use.

Greig, of Nathan Court, Colchester, admitted two charges of possession of cannabis resin, possession of amphetamine and possession of the class A drug ecstasy on January 29 this year.

He also admitted failing to surrender to custody on June 17 and a breach of a community rehabilitation order on January 30.

Greig also admitted driving with no insurance, with no licence and no MoT certificate, and failing to give police his proper details on the A12 at Stanway on June 21.

Russell Haldane, mitigating, said Greig had been fully co-operative with police.

He said he disputed the value of the drugs, estimating the value of 49g of cannabis resin which was found at £60 rather than the Crown's estimate of £249, and nine ecstasy tablets at £2 to £5 each rather than £10 each.

He said Greig, who works as a hod-carrier, started using drugs at 13 and was injecting amphetamine by the age of 18 or 19.

He said he had recently witnessed his brother's death in a road accident and was reeling from it.

Colchester magistrates yesterday sentenced Greig to three months and three weeks in prison.

They also banned him from driving for six months and fined him £400, ordering him to serve one day in prison in lieu of the fine.

Published Thursday August 26, 2004

Brought to you by the Evening Gazette