Man who dropped drugs in police car to avoid getting caught fined by magistrates

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The incident occurred in April.

A sneaky South Tyneside man deviously dropped his cocaine stash on the front seat of a police car in a bid to avoid justice, a court heard.

Backseat detained James Linsley, 23, of South Street, Hebburn, reached over and pointed to the drugs, telling the officer they were not his.

But his cheeky ploy backfired when the lawman, who had already checked his vehicle’s contents, called his bluff.

It was not the only deception Linsley committed after being pulled over while driving in Gateshead at 1.30am on Monday, April 24.

As officers closed in, he squeezed himself from the driver's seat into a space in the rear of his vehicle, due to driving without a licence.

That ruse was also exposed, leading him with no option but to plead guilty to charges of possession of drugs and driving unlicensed.

Prosecutor Stephanie Cook told South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court: “Police stopped a grey Hyundai in Greensfield Terrace.

“Prior to this, the officer had placed his only item, a police folder which was zipped up, on the passenger seat of his car.

“In the rear of the Hyundai was a male and in the front passenger seat was a female.

“Mr Linsley was handcuffed by the officer and placed in the rear of the police vehicle.

“But he then reached over the front seat of the police car and stated that a packet there was ‘not my packet’. There was a bag of white powder.

“Dash cam footage from the police vehicle shows him climbing over into the back of his own vehicle when it was stopped.”

Jason Smith, defending, said two of Linsley’s close relatives had recently died, causing a change in his behaviour.

Mr Smith added: “He’s never been in trouble, there’s one caution from 2016 when he was a youth.

“His recent emotional difficulties, perhaps he hasn’t been able to handle. This night he had been to buy cocaine, for personal use.

“He’s never used drugs before. He doesn’t know why he did this.

“The whole incident of climbing into the back of his vehicle was because he knew he had drugs and didn’t want to be caught with them.”

Magistrates fined jobless Linsley, who expects to soon be in employment, £120 for drugs’ possession, with £85 court costs and a £48 victim surcharge.

He was handed three penalty points for driving without a licence.