Man avoids jail over drugs 'treat'

A man who mistakenly handed bags of cocaine instead of sweets to a police officer's children out trick-or-treating has been sentenced to community service.

Apprentice panel beater Donald Junior Green fished in his pockets for a bag of Haribo sweets to give to the youngsters but instead pulled out a plastic pack containing eight snap bags of cocaine he had bought for £200 earlier that day, Oldham Magistrates' Court heard.

He dropped the drugs into the goody bags carried by the three children, aged eight, six and five, who were out playing trick or treat, escorted by their father, an off-duty policeman.

The 23-year-old defendant then closed the door, went back inside the house and put his hand in his pockets to get out his drugs - but instead pulled out the Haribo sweets.

Green immediately realised what had happened and went on foot, then by car, scouring the streets of Oldham to find the youngsters.

But the officer, Pc Simon Fowell, had taken his children home and, as they emptied their goody bags to share the spoils, he spotted the drugs - and made a swift call to his on-duty colleagues.

Green, who had never been in trouble with police before, has a job and attends college, wiped his eyes with his hands as he stood in the dock and admitted a single charge of possessing a Class A drug on October 31.

Green, of Sycamore Avenue, Oldham, was given a 12-month community order, was told to do 130 hours community work and ordered to pay court costs totalling £145 by chair of the bench Joyce Cooper.

Earlier Sean Brady, prosecuting, told the court Green was at his girlfriend's house in Mendip Close, Royton, on Halloween night when the incident happened.

The defendant had earlier that day bought £200 of cocaine, divided it up into snap bags and put it in his trouser pocket. His girlfriend had also bought some small bags of Haribo sweets which they had been handing out to trick-or-treating youngsters that evening.