Barman at Locomotive pub in Exeter sold cannabis to undercover cops and offered to buy stolen goods
A barman at a city centre pub agreed sold cannabis to undercover police and offered to buy stolen goods after the bar was targeted in a sting operation.
A barman at a city centre pub agreed sold cannabis to undercover police and offered to buy stolen goods after the bar was targeted in a sting operation.
Neil Bradley was a regular at the Locomotive Pub in New North Road, Exeter, and was helping behind the bar when he fell foul of the police clampdown on shoplifting.
A squad of undercover officers was set up to track down places where prolific shoplifters were thought to be selling on stolen items.
Two plain clothes officers posed as thieves and offered four joints of meat to Bradley, who paid £10 for them and got straight on the phone to his wife to tell her not to buy anything else for supper.
They also asked if he could supply cannabis and he nipped outside and came back within seconds with a bag of skunk.
ADVERTISEMENT
He did the same when another undercover officer came in the next day and asked for more drugs, this time going no further than the boor garden before returning with cannabis.
Bradley, aged 45, of Looe Road, Exeter, admitted handling stolen goods and two offences of supplying cannabis and was jailed for four months, suspended for 18 months by Recorder Mr Frank Abbott at Exeter Crown Court.
It is the second case in two days arising from the same operation. Dealer Andrew Killen was jailed for selling cannabis at the Wells Tavern in Well Street, Exeter, which has now closed.
The Recorder told Bradley his case was serious because of the harm which shoplifting does to businesses and the community in the city centre.
He said:”This is the sort of thing which went on in World War Two with people selling pork chops under the counter. Everyone thinks it is funny but it isn’t. It undermines the whole fabric of everyday life and business.
“That is why it cannot be tolerated. It is not the value of the goods; it is the morality of it. There is a problem with shoplifting in Exeter and these thieves can only flourish because there are places they can go to get rid of things.”
Mr Alex Allsop, prosecuting, said Bradley was not a paid employee at the Locomotive but sometimes helped out behind the bar and was doing so when undercover officers visited it in July posing as shoplifters.
The officers, using the false names of Kyle, Kelly and Joe, asked for cannabis and handed over £10. Bradley left and returned shortly afterwards with a bag containing 1.2 grams of herbal matter.
They returned with four pieces of meat which they said were stolen and Bradley bought them for £10.
Mr Allsop said:”He was then heard making a phone call to his wife telling her not to buy meat that day.”
Bradley sold another £10 bag of cannabis the next day to another member of the undercover team who asked him for ‘hash solid’. He replied he did not have any but the drugs he could get were even better.
Miss Pamela Calder, defending, said Bradley happened to be behind the bar when the officers came in and helped them buy drugs. When they came back with the meat he saw the opportunity to get a bargain.
She said he is now working with the drug and alcohol services and hopes to be offered cognitive therapy.
S
Soft Secrets
