'I like cocaine, it is my favourite' - convicted Penryn man
7:40am Wednesday 26th September 2012 in News
A Penryn man who claimed drugs worth more than £2,000 were for his own use has been handed a suspended prison sentence.
Olumide Abiola, aged 53, of South Street, had told Truro Crown Court he had been heavily addicted to drugs for many years.
He was stopped by police officers when he was the front seat passenger in a taxi in the early hours of September 8 last year in Falmouth Road.
A search of his rucksack found £187 worth of cannabis and £770 in cash.
A subsequent search of his home revealed more drugs, including quantities of cannabis, cannabis resin, amphetamine and the designer drug MDVP, also known as 'Meow Meow'.
The total street value of the haul was estimated as being in excess of £2,000.
Despite his denials, Abiola was convicted by a jury last month of being in possession of more than £2,000 worth of drugs with intent to supply.
He was sentenced at Truro Crown Court last Friday, when Recorder Nicholas Gerasimidis ordered that he will be under supervision for two years and must do 240 hours of unpaid work for the community.
During the trial, Abiola had declared “absolutely not” when asked by his advocate, Robin Smith, whether he was a drugs dealer.
He admitted being a very heavy user but said he had never sold drugs.
He began smoking cannabis when he was 18 and went on to cocaine in 1993 when employed as the manager of an adults only shop in Soho.
“I like cocaine, it is my favourite, but when it became expensive I turned to amphetamine,” he explained, “I have had a problem with drugs for many years.”
Abiola, a painter and decorator, explained that the cash the police seized had been payments he received from customers.
Comments(16)
serica
says...
12:16am Fri 28 Sep 12
Lord Barrington Forbes-Smythe
says...
1:41pm Fri 28 Sep 12
I know he must have been exaggerating his personal use to make it look like he doesn't deal but he must also be well into them.
DCI Jen
says...
2:04pm Fri 28 Sep 12
I wonder how prolific the problem of dealing is in Penryn and Falmouth, not everything makes it into the newspaper.
Gill Zella Martin
says...
2:22pm Fri 28 Sep 12
Lord Barrington Forbes-Smythe
says...
2:35pm Fri 28 Sep 12
Impressionable youngsters reading this headline and not much else might think, "Mmm, that sounds really nice, I'll look him up in Penryn", and something tells me he wouldn't be hard to find: we are even told what road he lives on.... See you down there, maybe?
Gill Zella Martin
says...
4:50pm Fri 28 Sep 12
I think the public does have right to be informed what is happening where.
Lord Barrington Forbes-Smythe
says...
4:54pm Fri 28 Sep 12
Gill Zella Martin
says...
7:06pm Fri 28 Sep 12
meerkats
says...
6:52pm Sun 30 Sep 12
Lanty Slee
says...
1:04am Tue 2 Oct 12
Gill Zella Martin
says...
7:06am Tue 2 Oct 12
However, I would at some point read any story about drugs, whatever the headline, because it is interesting to see which locality it affects.
meerkats
says...
10:13am Tue 2 Oct 12
Lord Barrington Forbes-Smythe
says...
10:22am Tue 2 Oct 12
They should have given him 2 years inside and got him to give the whole prison a lick of paint while he was in there rather than just sitting on his rear playing on games consoles like they all seem to in prison these days...
Bess Trecoa
says...
11:02am Tue 2 Oct 12
meerkats
says...
3:30pm Tue 2 Oct 12
Razorbill says...
3:29pm Wed 26 Sep 12
Very poor outcome, should have been a custodial sentence.