A drug dealer who left the country instead of turning up for a court hearing has escaped an immediate jail sentence after a court heard he is terminally ill.
Campbell Weir was found to have the drug M Cat when he was stopped by police in Spalding.
He had been due to appear before Lincoln Crown Court for sentence in February but instead went to Thailand. He was arrested at Heathrow Airport last week on his return back into the UK.
But he was given an eight-month jail sentence suspended for a year after the court was told he has terminal cancer.
Judge Michael Heath, passing sentence, told him: “I am persuaded in this case that given the length of time you apparently have left to live that it would be appropriate not to send you immediately to custody.
“You can go and make the best of what life remains available to you.”
Weir (54), of Thorney Road, Guyhirn, admitted charges of possession of M Cat with intent to supply and supplying the drug.
Jonathon Dee, prosecuting, said that Weir was stopped by police in November 2014 while driving a Mercedes car in The Broadway.
Weir questioned why he had been pulled over and claimed he was waiting for someone who had not turned up.
Officers then searched the car and found a number of bags of white powder under the driver’s seat. The bags were found to contain 11gs of M Cat.
Noel Philo, defending, said that Weir started using M Cat because he thought it might improve his energy levels.
Mr Philo said: “This was very minor street dealing. He is not a commercial dealer.”
Earlier this year Weir’s passenger Shaun Taylor (22), of Viscount Close, Pinchbeck, admitted charges of supplying M Cat and possession of the drug with intent to supply and was given an eight-month jail sentence suspended for 12 months. The court heard that Taylor, who is related to Weir, has since turned his life around with help from The Prince’s Trust.
