A judge has warned a young man he is on his last chance to avoid jail after police uncovered the drug operation he ran from his mum's house. They also found stolen motorbikes in his self-storage.
Wearing a grey sweatshirt with a NASA logo, Luke Prosser from Barry appeared at Cardiff Crown Court on Monday. The court heard police raided his then-home on Coldbrook Road East in October 2020 and found drug paraphernalia including weighing scales and an iPhone containing cannabis-dealing messages. Following the search Prosser, 22, was released under investigation.
Police then received intelligence which led them to bust into the home of Prosser's mother — where the defendant was living — in April last year and seize more than 1.2kg of cannabis which had a street value of up to £9,500. They also discovered £3,500 in cash.
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The judge, Recorder Christopher Felstead, said: "No doubt you found dealing cannabis an easy way to make money. There were three phones with drug-dealing texts on them. Police also found an invoice for self-storage units, where they found four motorbikes, two of which turned out to be stolen."
The £4,000 Honda Fireblade and £4,200 Duke motorbikes had been stolen in late March. Prosser accepted that he knew or believed the bikes to be stolen, the court heard.
The defendant, of Holton Road, pleaded guilty to possessing the Class B drug with intent to supply and being concerned in its supply, as well as handling stolen goods. The judge told him: "Mr Prosser, you're only 22 years of age. You were 21 when you committed these offences. You're going to fairly soon face a very stark choice of whether you go down the path of a career criminal and I see you again and again, or whether you take a different path.
"You committed the second offence while released under investigation for the first. But there is considerable mitigation. Firstly you were of effective clean character at the time of the first offence. Secondly there has been a considerable delay of 18 months from the first offence and 12 months from the second set, and you haven't reoffended in that time."
The probation service believes Prosser poses a low risk of reoffending and that a jail term could be harmful. Recorder Felstead said he took this into account along with Prosser having a "supportive" partner and being free from drugs.
The judge imposed a 12-month jail term suspended for two years as well as 150 hours of unpaid work and 15 days of rehabilitation activity. "You have one more chance to get this right," he told Prosser. "It's up to you."
Prosser gave a wide smile, placed his hands on his head and exhaled deeply before leaving the dock. You can read more court stories here or subscribe to our crime and punishment newsletter here.
