A man has been jailed for drug offences after £14,000 worth of cannabis was found at his home.
A jury at Leeds Crown Court convicted Matthew Joe Jobarteh of possessing the drug with intent to supply on February 18, 2014.
The eight women and four men rejected his account that the drug was not connected to him and had been left at his home in Malvern Road, Newsome, while he was in bed.
A friend claimed on his behalf that the cannabis had been left by another man known as Big P who was meant to come back but had failed to return for it.
Mathew Harding prosecuting said just over three kilogrammes of cannabis was found at the property in three bin liners and two shoe boxes.
The bin liners were in the living room along with one of the boxes while the other box had smaller dealer bags inside it in the kitchen.
The conviction put Jobarteh in breach of a suspended jail sentence imposed in March 2013 for two similar offences.
Mr Harding said on 25 May, 2014 during another search at Jobarteh’s home a small amount of cannabis for personal use was discovered in a glasses case in a kitchen cupboard.
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Ben Campbell representing Jobarteh said he realised he was in an unenviable position and facing an inevitable jail sentence.
He worked in his own valeting business and since the offences his second child had been born. A jail term would take him away from them.
Jobarteh, 34, admitted possessing the cannabis in May 2014 for which he was given no extra sentence. He was jailed for a total of two years nine months on the charges of possessing with intent to supply.
Recorder Anton Lodge QC told him: “It seems to me the reason you pleaded not guilty before this jury was because you knew if you were convicted you would be sent to prison for breaching the suspended sentence. If you thought that, you were right.”
He said he was satisfied Jobarteh had played a significant role in the cannabis found at his home. “This was a large amount with a street value of £14,000. You had not just cannabis in your house but the packages in which to prepare it for onward dealing and cannabis stained scissors.”
