A MAN who was “used, pressurised and coerced by others” was spared jail despite having been found by police to be in possession of two class A drugs.

Steven Baker, 50, of Vicar Road, Liverpool, was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, suspended for the same time period, at Mold Crown Court today (July 31).

He had previously pleaded guilty to charges of possession with intent to supply both heroin and cocaine.

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Prosecuting, Rosemary Proctor told the court that, on January 23, 2022, Baker was stopped by police while driving along the A55 in St Asaph in his mobility vehicle.

The car was searched, and inside it, officers found 135 knotted plastic packages containing a beige powder, and 193 packages with a white powder, as well as a SIM card and a Samsung mobile phone.

Police then went on to search Baker’s address, and from it seized drugs paraphernalia including a “snap bag” containing cannabis, a wrap of white powder, and two more phones.

When analysed, the packages from the car found that the beige powder was heroin, and the white powder crack cocaine.

A drugs expert valued the heroin at £1,350, and the crack cocaine at £1,390.

Analysis of the phones seized found two messages indicative of an involvement in the supply of drugs.

Baker gave no comment when interviewed by police, and was charged on May 7, 2023.

Defending Baker, whose only previous conviction was for a dissimilar matter in 2015, Jason Smith described features of this case as being “unusual in the extreme”.

Mr Smith described Baker as a “vulnerable person with mental and physical problems”, but also as someone who has been “effectively of good character”.

Baker had submitted a hand-written letter of apology for his offences, adding that he has also taken in a homeless person to his accommodation.

He had been coerced by others into supplying the drugs, Mr Smith said.

Immediate imprisonment would, Mr Smith added, “crush” Baker, a man who had lived a “law-abiding, constructive life for the vast, vast majority of his 50 years.”

Sentencing, Recorder Lloyd-Jones also ordered Baker to complete 25 days’ rehabilitation activity requirements, and pay a statutory surcharge.

He told Baker: “Controlled drugs are a serious problem in our society. They destroy lives, they destroy families.

“You have clearly got a number of mental and physical difficulties. It’s clear to me that you were being used, pressurised and coerced by others who had been your own suppliers. They knew what they were doing.

“There’s clearly a great deal of good in you in helping other people. I’m entirely satisfied that, most of the time, you’re a law-abiding citizen.

“Despite it being class A drugs, you are, in a sense, a victim in this yourself, because you’ve been used.

“I’m giving you this chance. Don’t throw it away.”