Thornaby man caught with £760 worth of cannabis avoids prison because of mental health difficulties

Kaivan Mahmoudi of Thornaby said he was sharing the Class B drug with friends to fund his own habit

An Iranian asylum seeker's "fragile" mental state has saved him from going to prison after he was caught with £760 worth of cannabis.

Police were looking for someone else for something "completely different" when they chanced upon 27-year-old Kaivan Mahmoudi.

He appeared at a front bedroom window of a home on Falmouth Street, central Middlesbrough.

He signalled he would come down then ran out of the back into an alleyway, Teesside Crown Court heard today.

He lobbed a protein container over the back wall of another home on August 15 last year.

It carried three large bags of cannabis and a set of digital scales, said prosecutor Sue Jacobs.

Mahmoudi, of Stranton Street, Thornaby, admitted possession of the 3oz of cannabis with intent to supply.

He said the Class B drugs were bought jointly for the use of him and his friends as he was not allowed to work and had to share it with friends to fund his own use of the drug.

The court heard previously how Mahmoudi has been in the UK for four years, had leave to remain and was in a relationship with a British citizen who was expecting a child.

He did not have permission to work and was "stuck" here as the authorities deemed it unsafe for him to return to Iran.

A pre-sentence report recommended a community order.

Judge Peter Bowers said: "The recommendation is mainly because he would struggle in custody because of mental health issues.

"Because of his status, unlike other asylum seekers, he's not in the category where he would find himself deported.

"The present situation in his homeland is such that he is unlikely to be deported for the foreseeable future."

He told Mahmoudi: "The amount of cannabis you had was clearly quite a lot.

"I hear what you say about why you had it, but you've got to understand that the courts do take a dim view of any dealing, even among friends, of cannabis or any other drug.

"If you're going to stay here you'll have to learn to live by the rules of this country. Do you understand?

"You've never been to prison. I won't send you there today simply because of your fragile mental health.

"But if you breach this order you will go to prison."

He gave Mahmoudi a nine-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months with supervision and 150 hours' unpaid work.

http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/thornaby-man-caught-760-worth-7806921 21/09/2014