A USER who armed himself with a knuckleduster when he went to buy drugs has been spared a jail sentence after kicking his habit.

Martin Way was at risk of going to jail because he was in breach of a suspended sentence but a Judge at Exeter Crown Court decided to give him a chance to continue his rehab work.

Way was caught with the knuckleduster in his pocket after he travelled from his home in Crediton to Exeter to buy cocaine to celebrate getting a new job as a van driver.

Police saw the deal taking place in Belmont Park in May and found the knuckleduster and the drugs which he had just bought in his pocket.

He claimed he had taken the weapon off two other men who had been planning to rob the dealer but his story was rejected by a jury earlier this month.

Way (39), of Station Yard, Crediton, was convicted of possession of an offensive weapon and admitted personal possession of crack cocaine.

He was ordered to do 20 days of rehabilitation activities as part of a three-year community order by Recorder Mr Mathew Turner.

The judge said he was not activating a previous suspended sentence or the mandatory six months sentence for a second weapons offence because of the progress Way has made since May.

He described the reports from the drugs and probation services as “glowing” and said Way is now concentrating on setting up a cleaning business and looking after his young family.

He told him: “This sentence is a chance to continue that progress. If it were not to continue, you would be in danger of leaving the court by the door behind you.”

During the trial, the jury heard how police interrupted a drug deal on May 17 and arrested Way when he tried to run away. He had 0.127 grammes of crack and a metal knuckleduster.

Miss Kelly Scrivener, defending, said Way’s previous suspended sentence included a drug rehabilitation requirement which had not had time to take effect in the two months before these offences were committed.

She said he has now succeeded in breaking a long-standing drug habit which has been the root cause of all his previous offending. He has a stable family life and wants to start a new cleaning business.

She said the suspended sentence should not be activated because these new offences would normally be met by community orders.

Way had previously been in court on March 14 this year when he admitted burgling the Exeter Leukaemia Fund shop in High Street, Crediton, and received a seven month suspended sentence.

In that case, he broke into the shop, ripped out the safe, and was heading home by bike when police spotted him weaving around the street, struggling under weight of his loot.

By Court Reporter