A DEALER who used a friend’s house as a mailing address to get a quarter of a kilo of skunk cannabis delivered from Canada has been avoided jail.

Tyler Wardale went on to the dark web to order £2,600 worth of the drug, but couldn’t have it sent to his family home because he had been caught before. So he arranged for it to be sent to another man.

But the 21-year-old’s contraband, which was wrapped up in a baby’s mattress, was sniffed out by customs officers who then went to the address on the package.

They arrested the householder, but he had texts showing Wardale, who he met in the pub through a mutual friend, was the real owner of the drugs.

Lucie Stoke, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court the package was intercepted by the Border Force in December, 2016.

It was addressed to Shaun Webb and when they went to the 26-year-old’s house he showed them a series of messages on his phone.

The court heard how Wardale, who referred to himself as Connor’s friend from the New Inn offered him an easy way to make money and some extra ‘smoke’. He said he had done it before and that it was a perfectly safe way for him to make some extra cash, saying he would pay Webb £60 to £100.

She said officers then went to Wardale’s home where they found scales and small bags which showed he had been dealing. He insisted he had only supplied friends and had not made any profit from what he was doing.

The court heard that a few months earlier a package from the USA was intercepted with his address on the front. Although it contained 180g of cannabis he was not prosecuted, instead receiving a warning about his behaviour.

Wardale, of Crawley Avenue, and Webb, of Cranmore Avenue, each pleaded guilty to evading a prohibition on importing the drug and being concerned in its supply.

Tulay Hodge, for Wardale, said he had been a heavy user since he was 13 and was not making any money from it. Both his parents had alcohol and drugs issues and since his arrest he had been seeking help to get off drugs, though now had an alcohol problem.

Tim Hills, for Webb, said his client, who had a job and home, realised he had been a fool to get involved with the friend from the pub.

Judge Robert Pawson said "The reason the court takes the importation of cannabis seriously and the supply of cannabis seriously is, contrary to the belief in some circles, cannabis is not harmless. One of the things it can cause in users is psychosis which is a lifelong illness of mental vulnerability.

"So when people are introduced to cannabis aged 14, 15, 16, some of them develop psychosis."

He told Wardale he was getting a 'last chance' with a 15 month jail term suspended for 18 months with a four month curfew, and alcohol treatment. Webb got six months suspended for a year with a two month curfew and 15 days of rehabilitation activity requirement.