A LANE-hogging motorist who was stopped on the M6 in Cumbria was transporting one kilogram of “high-purity” cocaine in a bid to pay off a £2,000 drugs debt.

An in-car sat-nav device showed that 51-year-old Mark Cleary was making a return trip from Glasgow after collecting the package from a person he refused to name, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

He admitted possessing the class A drug with intent to supply. But the admission was on the basis that he was a courier only.

Prosecutor Brendan Burke described how the offending came to light on October 11 last year.

“The defendant had travelled to Glasgow in his Ford Fiesta and on his return journey he was stopped by the police on the M6 southbound at Killington Lake Services,” said the barrister.

“The attention of the police was drawn to his car because he was travelling pointlessly in the middle lane.

"When the officers indicated for him to stop, he was seen moving around inside the vehicle. When he did stop, he was seen shoving something under the front passenger seat.”

The officers noted also that Cleary seemed nervous and he gave varying accounts for his journey to Glasgow, claiming first that he was "testing" the car’s engine and then saying he visited a submarine base to look for work.

In view of his nervousness and his conflicting accounts, the officers decided to search the car. They found small amounts of cocaine consistent with “personal use,” with Cleary telling the police that it was “something for the weekend."

More significantly, the officers looked under the front passenger seat, and found a package. Inside this, was a 1kg block of cocaine, which was 80 per cent pure.

Adulterated and turned into “street deals,” the cocaine had a potential street value of up to £100,000, said Mr Burke.

At the police station after his arrest, Cleary said he agreed to collect the package but he had no idea what it contained. His previous offending included a motoring crime, and harassment but there was no history of drugs offending, the court heard.

Anthony Parkinson, defending, said Cleary was a primary carer for his partner, who was unwell and any jail term would have a profound effect on her.

The defendant, who was taking the cocaine to Merseyside, agreed to transport it in order to settle a £2,000 debt that was owed to the people who supplied him with the drug. 

It was relevant, added that barrister, that the defendant was himself addicted to cocaine but while in prison, despite being offered more of the drug, he resisted.

“The author of the pre-sentence report says the defendant, while in custody, has put his time to extremely good use.

“He is a skilled joiner and he’s taken up a position in the prison whereby he teaches other inmates new skills in that regard.”

Cleary was determined to address his offending behaviour.

Recorder Julian Shaw told the defendant: “Drugs are a scourge on society; they give rise to untold human misery and huge public cost and expense.”

This included the crime that is committed to fund addiction. But the Recorder noted that until quite late into his life, Cleary was a man of good character.

He also noted also the defendant’s refusal to take drugs while in prison.

He jailed Cleary, Lincoln Drive, Ashton-In-Makerfield, Wigan, for three years and two months.