6 Months DRR with 12 Months Supervision order for possession of heroin

[H4U]

Hey ppl, hope your all well, i thought id put my 2 pennys worth in about court orders.
Let me start by explaining my encounter with the law, i got CAUGHT with 29.6grams of heroin and was charged with possession with intent to supply, i gave a good story as to how i came to be in possession of that much of heroin{just over an ounce} anyway to cut a long story short this june 16th at inner London crown court the CPS decided to drop my case to simple possession only, to which i was MORE than happy to put my hands up to!! The court ordered a PSR and when sentence time came{16 june 2011} i was sentenced to DRR and PROBATION, i have no violence or firearms offences on my record hence the eventual outcome as i had pleaded NOT GUILTY from the begining of this case {15 august 2009!!} YES IT TOOK THAT LONG i was a "FLOATER" waiting for my trial. ANYWAY cut a long story short ive done 3 months of the order so far and i think its BULLSHIT AND A WASTE BOF PUBLIC FUNDS AS DO THE OTHER JUNKIES AND ALCOHOLICS THAT ARE IN THIS ORDER!! What do you guys think? waste of government money? Success rates are LOW, i checked online, more people are breached than completing the order!! Regardless i feel happy that i didnt go prison as this was very likely at the start of the case, BUT with luck and a BRILLIANT account at the initial police interview, i am pleased that yet thats just ONLY 1 more possession added to my criminal record.
      BEST REGARDS H.

[OP8S]

OUCH! That must have been a worry for you H4U, at least it got dropped to possession. A good account is always needed, as I've found myself. That & a solicitor that has equal contempt for the plods & their methods. It's called DTO in Scotland & I hear a lot of people pass their tests with flat lager or apple ribena ( I kid you not! ) swill it around in an empty bottle of meth & bob's yer uncle, might be a bit more of a fuck about if you need to get any other substances in,  benzos etc. Glad you didn't get any time 

[sapphire]

Hi H4U, at least it's over now and you didn't get any actual time.

I would agree though that nearly all DRO's and most probations are a total waste of time. Last time I was on probation, I went to see this very angry woman every month for 18 months just for her to say "how are you", me to say "fine", and her to give me my next appt.

Total waste of time and money, and had little to do with whether I carried on offending or not.

[H4U]

Thank you for your thoughts and replies OP8S and Sapphire, indeed i feel lucky to have got DRR/PROBATION for a relatively large amount usually raely accepted by the CPS for "simple possession" The fact that im a user helped a great deal as the "COZART" test proved while initallly in police custody, they of course did a section 18{5} PACE search before taking me down to the nick, and having wrecked my room by turning it over upside down, found NOTHING relating to drug dealing so that played a big part in the "intent to supply" charge, cut it short i told the officers interviewing me that i found the drugs and that they spoiled my lucky find! Obviously i could see that they never believed me, but coudnt disprove my account in this matter, wheras in the past a "NO COMMENT interview worked in my favour, on this occassion i felt i had a good fighting chance by giving an account, and thankfully i wasnt wrong. One other thing that would have helped was in fact my record having quite a bit of possession of class A going back from 1998, OP8S, learn something new everyday! Here they do a mouth swab test twice a week and it really dosent matter whether the results are positive for drugs or not, ATTENTING the DRR is the main thing, miss twice without good reason and your breached! Also here in England it was formerly known as "DTTO" {Drug Treatment And Testing Order} And at that time positive drug test results could be in breach of it, whereas today DRR order does not mean that you must be clean. Sapphire so zsorry to read that you found out being Hep C positive, all the best to you in getting treatment and best of luck!

[OP8S]

Last time I was nicked I got the services of a 70 odd year old man as a solicitor. Loads of experience & he enjoyed poking holes in the charge sheet. Later we went for a cuppa ( as he got me off scott free, no record or nothing! ). Thought he deserved a cuppa for that eh ? He brought out loads of past cases, ones from the magistrates & ones from the high courts that involved people getting off or at least getting off lightly with larger quantities than an ounce, all because of their statements & the fact that the police had no real reason to search them. I would imagine in your case H4U that they may of had due reason for a search, but if you've got nothing but spent convictions then they need a reason to stop & search you ( Scotland anyway ) like someones accussed you of shoplifting. I couldn't believe the past cases the solicitor showed me from the high-court, guys getting off with probation for having 1/4pound ( honest! ).
The coppers are cunning but thick, if they grab you & you've got some gear on you then you immeadiately think it's a fair cop & take the punishment, but THEY have to have due reason to stop & search you. When I got knicked they said that it was because there was a warrant out on me, there was nothing off the sort. Ask why you've been stopped, make them note it down. If it's a crock of shit you may well walk away from the charge. I imagine having a warrant out for you is quite a well used excuse by the plods. Question them about it, even if you're in possession. Then get a decent solicitor on the job. The old guy I got still sends me xmas cards & his number is never far away!

[froude]

I will write something later on the here about getting nicked with gear it might help you all out if it ever arises that you are unlucky enough to get caught with Heroin.Always make sure when your searched in the street that you ask for a stop and search ticket,i think it is a section 76 Search and Stop,if your a known Heroin taker the police will search,they can only do it so many times then the law goes to you,Good on you H4U,all thebest Froude,

[sapphire]

That's a very good point froude, lots of possible drug convictions get thrown out due to illegal police searches.

[froude]

Whenever i was stopped in the street for a search i would always think to myself is this stop due to a tip off,is this search because i look like a drug dealer/user,or is it because the Police know that i have a problem with drugs and it is an easy way for them to get a result,ive come to the conclusion that it was the latter,and because of that i would be searched everytime i was seen by the Police,as it was up my ass they would never find it not even when they would take me to the Police Station for a full strip search.I had accumalated a few stop and search tickets in one week ,and even when stopped and searched i would always ask for a number and name to be put on it ,i got hold of my soliciter told him the story and he contacted the Police.I was being stopped just because i was a known drug user,not because i looked dodgy or i was seen talking to a dealer or imformation recieved,oh no ,easy to stop people like me ,because they (Police)were going out their way to intimidate me and they knew at the right time they might find something.Then one day i was walking to the chemist and this copper stopped me and said "Froude, your brief has kicked up a stink about you being stopped all the time ,your the talk of the Station",ive never been stopped and searched since,um wonder what happened there then.
When your arrested for posession with intent to supply,and you have been bailed from the police Station,get a hair strand and blood sample done it will tell everyone  how long you have been taking heroin and how much is in your system(goes for any drug)if caught like H4U with a ounce to maybe a quarter your going to get charged for posession with intent to supply,but you can bet your ass they will drop the charge to posession when they find out how much is in your system.The law stinks and there is nothing to keep people who are using to be victimised by the Police.When i was up in front of the Crown Court for sentanceing in 2002 for crimes to fund my massive Crack and Heroin habit the Judge was going to send me back to Prison for Pre Sentance Reports as he said there was a good chance of getting a DRR,i said no i want Prison as putting me on DRR would expose me to drugs and in my opinion i would find it easier to get off drugs in Prison than it would be to put me on a course with people who are there for drugs and are still doing them while on the DRR.I was put down for 3years,and that was a result with my previous,YEAH H4U ITS A LOAD OF BOLLOCKS,all the best Froude.

[OP8S]

Yes you're right froude , get them to search you there & then ( unless you're getting strip searched, could cause embarassment ! ) when I was pulled a little old lady stopped her car & asked if I was alright . The coppers tried to get rid of her but she stood her ground & said she was asking if I was alright & did I want her to stay with me. Could tell the plain clothes coppers were pissed off they said that " they were the police ! " & " I had drugs ! " the old lady said she knew fine well who they were & what was going on so asked again if I wanted her to stay , I said yes just to piss off the cops really but her statement backed up mine of a wrongfull stop & search which certainly did know harm. I occassionally visit the lady now, just goes to show that there is still some people out there who have not been brainwashed by the media.

[sapphire]

You've got to love little old ladies. I hope I'm like that whne I'm older.

[froude]

I've come across a lot of the O.A.P's who are anti police,or think they dont do enough.Before we moved and we were in the flat the old lady above us,her flat had been broken into and the Police took 4 hours to come round,told her not to touch antything so she came in ours,lovely she was ,saying when she never used to lock her door years ago and now she wont go out when dark other than going in Taxi.Saw her about 3 days later coming down the stairs in a body bag,im sure that break in killed her,i went mental at the undertakers she was upright on a trolley banging down the stairs,said to them to carry her, lazy bastards,fair play they did.If it was'nt for our O.A.P's i dont like to think where we could of been.All the best Froude

[OP8S]

Yes, I was quite surprised. Especially when she told them she knew they were cops & that's why she stopped. I expect I did look a bit shocked as they jumped me from behind a corner. Thought that she would go when they said that I was an addict but she obviously didn't have a very high opinion of police tactics.
 Just goes to show , some of the public aren't completely brainwashed...yet?! It's worth even shouting out to any witnesses, you never know their opinions & an extra statement from a passer-by ensures that the cops don't try to alter their paperwork as two coppers statements hold a lot more weight than just your own. A statement from another member of the public balances things out a bit more.

[froude]

I can remember at Glasto years ago ,if a copper went to arrest you for a bit of dope everyone would shout BUST or COPPER's,soon put em off when 2000 people shouting that lol.All the best Froude

[derek d j]

And I remember the first or maybe second Glastobury, when busting folk for harmless herbs was the last thing on the  mind of the one cheerful, ruddy faced constable I saw on duty.

Either one or t'other are appropriate reactions to insanity, Froude. Sadly, there's now neither.

[froude]

On a dew soaked morn in Glasto,you should of given the ruddy faced constable a nice cup of mushroom tea Derek lol,All the best Froude