Man sentenced to 4 years in drugs case

May 23, 2019

Jane Greenhalgh from Exchange Chambers, instructed by Simon Walker, Senior Partner at Appleby, Hope & Matthews Solicitors, has defended a man charged with two counts of possessing drugs with intent to supply.

Christopher Dunkin, 67, pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to four years imprisonment after Jane Greenhalgh put forward mitigation on his behalf.

After retiring last year as a result of an industrial accident, Dunkin sunk into depression and gambling, before running out of money.

Feeling he had nowhere else to turn, a friend of a friend lent him £10,000.

But he soon realised he would never pay off the debts he owed to the lenders, who turned out to be gangsters. They said his debt would reduce if he carried out favours for them – including the drugs run for which he was arrested.

Dunkin’s car was pulled over on the motorway, at about 5.50pm on January 10, officers found two kilos of cocaine with a street value of £200,000 hidden in the vehicle.

In a subsequent search of his home in Middlesbrough, officers also found 1.8kg of amphetamine hidden in his garden shed, with a street value of £4,500.

Jane Greenhalgh said Dunkin was ‘relieved’ after being pulled over by the police, as his ordeal was over.

Jane is a member of the criminal department at Exchange Chambers.