Leeds man who told police 'I had no idea it was so serious' jailed for three years after being caught with magic mushrooms
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
The wild-growing mushrooms, which cause psychoactive effects, are categorised as Class A drugs, putting them in the same bracket as heroin and cocaine.
Even the judge in Mehari Tesheme’s case at Leeds Crown Court told him that she too had no idea they were in Class A, despite having spent almost 25 years working in the courts.
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Hide AdTesheme was handed a three-year jail sentence this week after he admitted dealing in psilocybin - the psychedelic compound found in mushrooms - dealing in cannabis and possession of criminal property.


Prosecuting, Richard Holland said at around 1am on May 29 this year, police officers patrolling the Hyde Park area pulled over a Honda driven by Tesheme because he was speeding. The car also flagged up as previously being involved in drugs.
Having been stopped on Mount Preston Street, he confessed to having drugs in the car. A thorough search unearthed the mushrooms worth £400, cannabis worth £240, cannabis edibles worth £45 and a £15 cannabis oil vape. They also found cash stashed in various locations in the car totalling £5,085.
A study of his bank accounts also found regular third-party deposits that Mr Holland said was “consistent with dealing” to young people and students who often pay for drugs through bank transfers. The court heard there was £9,000 in his accounts that was unaccounted for.
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Hide AdTesheme, of Crosby View, Holbeck, said he was put to work to pay off a mounting debt to his own dealer for his own cannabis use. He claimed he was dealing for around two months, but the Crown did not accept this basis of plea.
A probation found that after the death of a friend he had started smoking cannabis which had spiralled out of control, and he was using around £75 worth a day.
Mitigating on his behalf, Vincent Blake-Barnard said his best mitigation was his early guilty pleas, and that he had no previous convictions. He said that Tesheme had been working as a photographer but due to his cannabis use, his wages “fell short”.
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Hide AdJudge Kate Rayfield told Tesheme: “It’s a great shame you find yourself here. It sounds like you have a promising career ahead of you working as a photographer.
“However, if you get involved in supplying Class A drugs of the streets of Leeds, the message has to go out. They will go immediately to prison.”
“I appreciate you did not know they were Class A drugs.”
He will return to court on January 10 for POCA proceedings (Proceeds of Crime Act) to recover any further ill-gotten gains from Tesheme.