A DRUG dealer who was caught with cocaine worth as much as £3,000 has been sentenced to five years in prison.
During a raid in August 2022, Ashton Lee Coughlan (25) was found with 10.79 grams of cocaine wrapped in plastic bags and another 1.94 grams in cling film.
Coughlan was also found to be in possession of £181 in cash and a receipt showing a cash deposit into a bank account of £750 in £50 bank notes.
Further investigations revealed “various unexplained payments totalling £4,700” in Coughlan’s bank account, according to Crown Advocate Taylor, prosecuting.
Coughlan had also transferred £10,758 from his Revolut account to his NatWest account.
Coughlan admitted ten offences, including the drugs offences, as well as malicious damage, sending a grossly offensive message, and perverting the course of justice.
The court heard that following the raid on his home, Coughlan refused to give police officers the PIN for his mobile phone. However, investigators were still able to find Snapchat messages in which he boasted that he “basically had unlimited supply” of drugs.
The social media messages showed Coughlan communicating with contacts about “pure rocks” or how he was “all out beans now everyone’s jumped over them only got coke left”.
The correspondence spanned between 16 July 2022 and 6 August 2022.
The court also heard about an incident against a woman which took place at the end of 2023.
The court heard that Coughlan got into an argument with his girlfriend and the next day went to her home and kicked in her door.
He then sent her abusive messages.
After she made a police report, Coughlan sent her a Snapchat story asking her to “sort this without the police.”
“I aint a f***ing monster I’d never harm you I was literally drunk,” he wrote.
He added later: “Please just f***ing retract your statement”.
Crown Advocate Taylor asked the court to give Coughlan a seven-year jail term, a domestic abuse protection order and a £30 compensation order for the door lock.
Advocate James Bell, defending, argued that a seven-year sentence would be “too harsh”.
Coughlan had dealt drugs in order to pay for his own habit rather than to make a profit, he explained, as “he was struggling with addiction”.
“He does regret his actions,” he said. “I suggest that he is genuinely remorseful.”
The sentencing had been delayed since the summer of 2022, he added, meaning that “the whole matter had been hanging over [Coughlan] and it has been a heavy burden for him to bear”.
In mitigation, defence counsel said that Coughlan was aged 23 at the time of offending and had had a difficult upbringing.
Despite acknowledging that a custodial sentence was inevitable, he pleaded for Coughlan to be able to rehabilitate himself.
Coughlan was sentenced by the Superior Number of the Royal Court, which convenes for cases involving the most serious crimes.
The Deputy Bailiff, Robert MacRae, presiding, noted Coughlan’s “impressive” letter to the court.
He also took into account the two-year delay in bringing Coughlan to court, Coughlan’s young age at the time of offending, his “genuine remorse” and his “difficult start” in life.
“We are impressed with the use you are making of your time in custody and we do hope… that you continue to make good use of that time, and that when you are released you certainly never offend and make good use of your life.”
Coughlan was sentenced to a total of five years’ imprisonment, and was given a restraining order for seven years.
There was no compensation order.
The Jurats sitting were Elizabeth Dulake, Steven Austin-Vautier, Karen Le Cornu, Alison Opfermann and Michael Entwistle.
