£500 cocaine suspect denies being a dealer (From The Northern Echo)

£500 cocaine suspect denies being a dealer

8:07am Friday 7th August 2009

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A PARKS assistant found to have more than £500-worth of cocaine at his home in the municipal park where he worked has denied being a drug dealer.

Police found 28 plastic wraps of the powder when they executed a search warrant at Wharton Park House, Wharton Park, North Road, Durham City, last August.

They also found some Temazepam tablets, £3,690 cash and a book containing names and figures, a Durham Crown Court jury was told.

But Ian Swift, an employee of the former Durham City Council, told detectives he was not dealing the drug but simply had it for his own use.

Mr Swift, 39, pleaded not guilty to possessing cocaine with intent to supply. The jury has heard he has admitted possessing the Temazepam, a Class C drug.

Steven Orange, prosecuting, said officers who searched the house found the cash in three bundles in jacket pockets and in a wallet.

The cocaine was found in his bedside cabinet along with the five tablets and a black book listing several names.

The cocaine weighed 13.6 grams in total and had a purity of 39 per cent and would have a street value of more than £500.

The jury heard that Mr Swift told police that he became addicted to cocaine after the break-up of a relationship and had bought the drug for himself as he used three or four wraps a day. He declined to say who supplied it.

He said he thought the tablets were Valium and that some of the money was his gambling winnings and some was savings.

The book contained the names of members of a “punters club’’ he ran and that some of the money was theirs.

His girlfriend, Catherine Gillespie, told the court she had given Mr Swift some money towards a holiday they were due to take with two other people and friend Richard Turnbull said he was a member of the punters club.

Mr Orange said the Crown contended there was no legitimate way Mr Swift could have acquired £3,690 and that he sold drugs to fund his own habit.

But Ron Mitchell, defending, said his client admitted having cocaine for personal use and had bought in bulk because it was cheaper.

The jury is considering its verdict.

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