A FORMER soldier from Penrith who bought heroin “in bulk” to save money was caught driving back from Liverpool after collecting the drug.

As the police officers who stopped his car on the M6 were driving him to the station for a “more thorough search,” 44-year-old Gavin Fletcher  became anxious, confessing he had hidden a bag of the class A drug on his person.

He later admitted possessing heroin with intent to supply.

At Carlisle Crown Court, prosecutor Brendan Burke described how police caught the defendant, initially believing his trip to Liverpool was linked to a much wider conspiracy to import drugs to Cumbria from Liverpool.

Fletcher bought heroin in bulk to reduce the cost and ensure a “consistency of supply.” He and three or four other addicts were pooling their resources and sharing the drug.

His car was stopped near to Junction 39 of the motorway on October 22, 2020, as Fletcher returned from Liverpool. The initial police search of his car yielded nothing of significance.

Referring to the journey back to the police station, so that officers could carry out an intimate search, Mr Burke said: “He became anxious about that process ad volunteered that he had an ounce of heroin in his anus.

“That was recovered: there was 26.9g of 24 percent purity heroin.”

The court heard that the higher-level criminals involved in organising the drug supply to Cumbria typically traded in small quantities of the drug but they did so in a “high traffic” way.

Fletcher’s criminal record consisted of 54 previous offences.

They ranged from criminal damage and multiple common assaults to an ABH assault, burglary, harassment, motor vehicle theft, and robbery.

Tariq Khawam, defending, said that in the four years since his arrest Fletcher had made much progress. He had arrived at court with character references, including from his employer.

Mr Khawam said: “Essentially, it was a cooperative rather than simple supply, a situation where the defendant and others whom he had contact with and who introduced him to the drug were assisting each other.

“Mr Fletcher was the person willing to go to collect the drugs.”

Judge Michael Fanning took note of the defendant’s background as a soldier, who had served his country and the “non uncommon” situation of him needing medication, relying eventually on “non-prescription medication.”

Even now,  Fletcher of Raiselands Croft, Penrith, was on methadone.

But the judge accepted Fletcher was not part of the wider conspiracy which had seen Liverpool dealers “muscle their way” into Cumbria. He had, nevertheless, completed more than 100 deals.

The judge said: “You travelled to get this stuff and to bring it back and it goes beyond mere social supply.” The defendant was funding his own habit and the trip when he was caught was not a “one-off.”

But Judge Fanning said the circumstances were different to those of a typical street drug dealer. But he noted also the “substantial progress” Fletcher had achieved in the last four years.

He had a supportive partner and was reducing his drug addiction; and he also had a job, being respected by his colleagues as a “valued person.”

The Judge said: “Drug dealers ordinarily go to prison immediately.

"But you have a job, a family, accommodation. Because of the progress, because you are rehabilitating, and because you are a valued member of society, I can take an exceptional course.”

The defendant was given a suspended jail term of one year and ten months. The sentence includes 150 hours of unpaid work. The judge told Fletcher: “You have made progress and I’m not going to stand in the way of that.

“There is every prospect that you have turned your back on crime.” A charge alleging that the defendant was part of the wider drugs conspiracy was not proceeded with.