A taxi driver who lost his job because of the pandemic set up a business selling nitrous oxide canisters.
Daniel Bennett even had business cards and stickers printed to promote his illegal enterprise.
But police stopped him while he was driving his car on Manchester Road, Prescot, in the early hours of November 21 last year and he appeared nervous when questioned.
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Officers searched his Land Rover and found 16 boxes containing a total of 384 canisters and balloons used to inhale the drug.
Bennett claimed the canisters were for baking and laughed, said Nardeen Nemat, prosecuting at Liverpool Crown Court.
When his home in Hawkins Street, Kensington, was searched a further 504 canisters were found along with three mobile phones and £220 cash.
Business cards and stickers advertising “balloon for loons” were also found. Boxes of 24 canisters were offered for £24, crackers for £10, “free rubbers with every order” and “free delivery across the Liverpool and surrounding areas, seven days a week till late”, said Miss Nemat.
They also said they were for those aged over 18 and the business took no responsibility for misuse.
Sentencing the 27-year-old the judge Recorder Timothy Hannam, QC, said: “I conclude you knew possessing such a number of canisters for the purpose for which you had them was illegal.”
He said he rejected his claim to the pre-sentence report author that he did not know it was illegal.
The judge said: “You had a number of nitrous oxide canisters which you intended to supply for consumption for psychoactive effects. The maximum sentence is seven years.
“It is not safe to take this gas. It is not a victimless, amusing crime. Prolonged use can lead to anaemia, nerve damage and reduced formation of white blood cells which fight infection. The possession of these canisters for their psychoactive effect was made illegal in 2016, for good reason.”
Bennett pleaded guilty to possessing a psychoactive substance with intent to supply.
His barrister Tom Watson said that it had been “a one-off situation”. Mr Watson said Bennett was supported by his family and partner.
He added: “He set it up as a short term solution when he lost work as a taxi driver. His claim in the pre-sentence report that he did not know it was illegal is nonsense. He was trying to be too clever by half.
"Bennett is not a man who just glides through life without making a contribution. He has always worked and is well qualified as a joiner.
“He has never been in trouble before and the prospect of immediate imprisonment is terrifying him. He is a young man the court will never see again.”
Mr Watson added that the defendant has a job starting with a tyre company in the new year.
Recorder Hannam told Bennett, who had been supplying the drug for several months: “You have a good work record and from the cards and stickers it appears you applied that industry to this new enterprise and were very professional about it.”
He pointed out: “You were covering what you did by business cards which tried to imply that it was a legitimate enterprise and provided you with some sort of camouflage. I find you were dealing on a commercial scale.”
He sentenced him to 10 months imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered him to carry out 250 hours hours unpaid work. He also confiscated the £220 cash seized by police and ordered him to pay £480 prosecution costs within a year.
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