'Prolific' drug-dealing grandad jailed after being caught with high-grade cannabis twice in the same week

Craig Baines, who has already served sentences for dealing Class A drugs, was stopped twice by officers in Pontefract and found to be carrying hundreds of pounds worth of high-grade cannabis each time and almost £1,500 in cash.

Baines pleaded guilty to two counts of intending to supply Class B drugs and possession of criminal property.

Leeds Crown Court heard police first pulled Baines over on July 24 last year on Grove Lea Walk.

Searching the Vauxhall car they found around 39 grammes of 'skunk' cannabis and more than £1,053 in cash.

The 42-year-old told police he got 5oz of the drug from a friend, smoked some himself but planned to sell the rest to family and friends.

Joe Culley, prosecuting, said he was then stopped again behind the wheel of a Citroen on August 2 on Churchbalk Lane - close to where he was stopped previously.

This time officers found 20 grammes of the high-grade cannabis and £404 in cash. They found weighing scales and a dealer's list.

This time he told police he owed money to a man and was selling around 5oz of cannabis a week to help pay off his debt.

The court was told that Baines, a father of two and grandfather of three, has six previous convictions for 20 offences, including drug dealing.

A probation report suggested that Baines felt he was forced to deal drugs by a man he owed money to, but had refused to go back to selling Class A drugs.

Imran Khan, mitigating, said that Baines, of Westbourne Road, Pontefract, had been "candid and frank" and "chose to tell the truth".

But the judge, Recorder Dafydd Enoch QC said: "He shows no commitment to staying out of trouble at all.

"He is a prolific cannabis dealer. Getting a job would have been the best way to pay off a debt."

Jailing Baines for 12 months, he told him: "You were a Class A drug dealer for a long time and have been to prison several times.

"When you came out it was time to make some choices, but despite the fact you had been to prison, you carried on drug dealing.

"There's no reason why you could not have gone to the police, or moved out of the area or taken steps.

"There's no reason why you could not have got a job..

"Your luck is running out, if you keep doing this you will keep ending up back in prison."