A MAN who admitted supplying class A drugs to friends and acquaintances during a period of heavy cocaine addiction has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.
The Royal Court heard that Nicholas Clyde-Smith (40) was charged with being involved in the supply of cocaine, LSD, DMT, ecstasy and cannabis, having come to the attention of the police after messages he had sent were found on the phone of a suspected drug dealer.
Clyde-Smith pleaded guilty to four offences relating to class A drugs, receiving concurrent sentences of four-and-a-half years on each count and three months – also concurrent – for his involvement in supplying cannabis, a class B drug.
A panel of five Jurats heard that while Clyde-Smith had primarily sold drugs to friends and acquaintances, as well as offering lines of cocaine to fellow attendees at parties, he had not made money from the transactions, which were described as “social supplying”.
Passing sentence, Commissioner Sir John Saunders, who was presiding, said there was “nothing social” about one of the offences, which involved supplying 20-30 ecstasy tablets to an associate whose ability to supply cocaine had been interrupted when a batch became contaminated.
Advocate Stephen Baker, defending, said his client was “profoundly remorseful” about what had happened but had lost his moral compass.
Clyde-Smith was also ordered to pay £6,800 to cover the proceeds of his supplying and £2,500 in costs, and the forfeiture of a mobile phone, glass pipe and set of scales.
Detective Sergeant Jim McGranahan, who leads the Drug Squad, said: “We are committed to putting those responsible for supplying these drugs before the courts.
“We continue to work with our partners and other agencies to protect our community from the harm they can cause.”
