Dealer spared jail after admitting supplying friends (From Warrington Guardian)

Warrington drug dealer Aaron Bell spared jail after admitting supplying friends

11:10am Tuesday 28th July 2009 in News By Neil Docking

A DRUG dealer has been spared jail after he admitted supplying his friends with cannabis.

Aaron Bell, aged 30, of Plumtre Avenue, Bewsey, was handed an eight-month jail sentence suspended for two years after he pleaded guilty to possession of a Class C drug with intent to supply at Warrington Crown Court on Friday.

But Judge Thomas Teague warned: “If he gets caught with a quantity of drugs and equipment again it is unlikely that the court will accept that he is just providing drugs for a few friends.”

Bell was arrested in Warrington town centre in the early hours of October 17 last year after he was spotted acting suspiciously on CCTV cameras.

His home was searched and police found just over half an ounce of cannabis separated in different bags in his bedroom along with electronic scales, a grinder and two mobile phones with messages on them about buying drugs.

David Jones, prosecuting, said Bell told police he was selling some cannabis to friends to fund his own drug use.

Bell, balding with a shaved head and wearing jeans, a t-shirt and a hooded top in court, has previous convictions for driving while disqualified and breaching a court order.

Paulinus Barnes, defending, said it was a ‘relatively small-scale’ operation.

He added: “His partner has just found out she is pregnant, which is a significant motivation for him to change the way he has been living.”