TWO West Somerset men have been sentenced for possessing thousands of pounds worth of drugs.

Lewis Stevens, 24, formerly of Helwell Street, Watchet and Wayne Pope, 37, of Bampton Street, Minehead appeared at Taunton Crown Court on Wednesday, May 22 to learn their fates.

Paul Grumbar, prosecuting, said the case first came to light following a search warrant executed at Stevens’ Watchet address in August 2017, where police officers discovered 150 small wraps of cannabis, 6g of cocaine, 8g of amphetamines, and a number of class C drugs.

Officers also discovered five mobile phones and a total of £5,310 in cash.

When police investigated the phone they found numerous messages about drug dealing and linked one of the numbers frequently contacted related to Wayne Pope.

It came to light later that police officers had found a holdall dumped in a wheelie bin in Minehead in November 2017 which contained the phone used by Pope to contact Stevens, as well as packages of cocaine, amphetamine and other drugs which had an estimated street value of £6,000. Pope’s fingerprints were also found on the bag.

The messages indicated the Pope supplied the drugs to Stevens.

Nicholas Fridd, defending, said Pope had run his own window cleaning business for 19 years which he had sold.

“Mr Pope took in a lodger who was selling drugs which is how he got involved, but after selling his business the person who supplied him with drugs stole all his money and he lost everything,” Mr Fridd said.

Pope, who has 18 previous convictions, was sentenced by Recorder Martin Meeke to three years and nine months in prison for supplying cocaine, with a number of separate drug-related counts all to run concurrently.

Nikki Coombe, defending Stevens, said he had turned his life around, having been clean from drugs for over a year, was working and showed sincere remorse for his actions.

Stevens had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at the age of 21 and suffered with anxiety.

He had also become a father since his arrest.

Recorder Meeke sentenced him to two years imprisonment, suspended for two years. A tearful Stevens told the judge he would 'grab this second chance with both hands' as he left the dock.