A MAN from Rhyl who breached the suspended sentence he was given after being involved in a £2.5million cannabis conspiracy in the town has been spared jail.

Akeel Aslam, 50, of River Street, was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, suspended for the same time period, at Caernarfon Crown Court on April 26, having previously admitted conspiring to produce a class B drug.

But he appeared at Mold Crown Court this morning (July 17), having breached the terms of his suspended sentence by failing to attend a probation appointment on June 7.

Aslam admitted the breach, and was fined £500 and ordered to pay costs of £120.

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Nicholas Williams, representing Aslam, said his client is “very contrite”.

He said Aslam often works until the early hours of the morning at a takeaway he runs, so overslept on the day of his appointment having been taking antidepressants and sleeping tablets.

Aslam, who has completed roughly one-sixth of the 300 hours’ unpaid work he was also given, has “done all of the work he’s been offered” so far, Mr Williams said.

Judge Nicola Saffman, who sentenced Aslam in April, said his breach of the order was an “insult to me”.

She told him: “Before I heard from your barrister today of the progress you’ve made, I was going to send you to prison.”

Reserving any future breaches to herself, she added: “If I see you again for a breach or any further offence, I will have no alternative but to send you straight to prison.”

In total, the three-year conspiracy that Aslam was part of involved the production of 257kg of cannabis, yielding an estimated street value of £2.57million.

His two brothers, Faisall and Shakeel Aslam, were handed the same sentences by Judge Saffman in April.

In December, their co-defendants were handed jail terms of the following lengths at Caernarfon Crown Court:

  • Oltian Salla, 34, of Warstone Lane, Birmingham – four years.
  • Shpetim Kapo, 24, of Town Fields, Doncaster -  three years and eight months.
  • Aranit Kapo, 22, of Manor Oak Gardens, Sheffield – three years and four months.
  • Ardit Lici, 27, of Owler Lane, Sheffield – nine months.
  • Edison Cela, 28, of Owler Lane, Sheffield – nine months.
  • Ronaldo Hazizi, 25, of Catherine Avenue, Doncaster – six months.
  • Besim Kalemi, 23, of Wincobank Avenue, Sheffield - six months.
  • Hasan Hajdari, 20, of Queen Street, Rhyl – four months.