A pub manager in a Norfolk town has been sentenced after admitting being involved in dealing drugs.

Alex Clements, who runs The Bull on the High Street in Dereham, was accused of supplying cannabis after being arrested on March 22. 

The 27-year-old was convicted in September after admitting two charges of possession with intent to supply and being concerned in the supply of cannabis between February 1 and 23.

Ghaff Khan, prosecuting at Norwich Magistrates’ Court, said his offending had involved street dealing and that investigations had found he had played a “significant role”. 

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However, James Burrows, mitigating, disputed whether the offences had been categorised correctly, saying his involvement had been a “lesser role”.  

“There is no evidence whatsoever that he is part of a chain or a line bringing drugs up from London. This is a one-man band of a young man at his home address,” he added. 

The Bull pub on the High Street in DerehamThe Bull pub on the High Street in Dereham (Image: Denise Bradley) The court heard that Clements, of Sardis Way in Dereham, had been arrested after police raided his home address over reports of the smell of cannabis. 

A quantity of drugs was seized together with a phone that included evidence of the selling of cannabis.

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Mr Burrows said that when police arrived he had been smoking cannabis with friends in his back garden, and the numbers and messages found on his phone had been between a limited number of people. 

“He bought it in bulk and sold it to a few friends. This is not in any sense street dealing,” he said.

Magistrates fined Clements £653 and ordered he pay £346 in costs.  

They declined to follow the findings of a probation service pre-sentence report that recommended a community order with unpaid work, after hearing this would hamper his ability to run the pub in the run-up to Christmas.