Harrogate man spared jailed after being caught dealing drugs in town centre

Kane Cormack, 21, was arrested after police spotted two men acting suspiciously in Harrogate town centre, York Crown Court heard.

Cormack, of Spruisty Road, handed over cannabis packages to officers who also found cash on the suspect, said prosecutor Susannah Proctor.

They also found messages on his phone which showed he had been sending out messages to “multiple” drug customers in the hours leading up to his arrest.

Police subsequently searched Cormack’s home and found quantities of cocaine, digital weighing scales and dealer bags.

Ms Proctor said although the incriminating messages showed that Cormack had sent out texts to users on the day of his arrest, he had “clearly been supplying to them in the past”.

Cormack, a scaffolder, was charged with possessing Class A and B drugs with intent to supply and supplying cannabis.

He was charged with a fourth count of offering to supply cannabis which occurred over a year between 2020 and July 2021.

He admitted the offences on the proviso that he was only supplying to friends on a “non-commercial basis”.

Ms Proctor said the prosecution accepted this basis and that Cormack had no previous convictions.

The “majority of supply was cannabis to street users”, the court heard.

Defence barrister Harry Crowson was spared the need for mitigation after judge Simon Hickey said he would not be sending Cormack to jail.

Mr Hickey said he had noted that Cormack was now drug-free, notwithstanding his receiving a police warning in November last year for cannabis use.

He also noted a probation report which said that Cormack had since turned his life around and had turned away from the “bad” company he had kept at the time of the offences.

He said that for those reasons, as well as the fact that Cormack had a job and had been frank with police, he could veer away from an immediate prison sentence.

The judge said that Cormack had “moved on drastically” since his offending except one “blip when you were caught with cannabis” and that he had changed his lifestyle “significantly”.

Cormack received an 18-month suspended prison sentence and was ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.

He must also complete 20 rehabilitation-activity days.