A CANNABIS dealer was unmasked when police investigating completely different allegations seized his phone.

Found on the device were a number of texts to friends and acquaintances arranging sales of the class B drug.

But Isaac Mould was spared an immediate jail sentence, after Recorder Anna Midgley heard the 25-year-old was remorseful, had taken steps to address his cannabis addiction and was about to start a new carpentry job.

Prosecutor Ian Fenny told Swindon Crown Court police had seized Mould’s phone in July last year to investigate an unrelated allegation.

They found a number of texts pointing to the man dealing in the class B drug between May 23 and July 24, 2019.

Mould, of Bentley Close, Calne, pleaded guilty at the magistrates’ court to being concerned in the supply of cannabis.

Defending, Leanne Ballato said her client had left school aged 14 and gone to work in the family business fitting industrial resin floors.

However, he’d been forced to give up work due to a problem with his foot. He had relied on cannabis to manage the pain.

Initially buying the drug in bulk in order to make it more cost-effective to service his own addiction, he had started to sell to friends and then others.

Ms Ballato said: “He was supplying the drug to which he was addicted. It was a daily addiction and he states at times he couldn’t bear the pain and so was increasing his use of that particular drug.”

The death of his brother last year had had a salutary effect on Mould. He had turned his back on drugs and retrained as a carpenter. He had an offer of employment at a firm refitting camper vans and had commissioned a drugs test report for the court at his own expense. His partner was pregnant and due to give birth in the spring.

Recorder Midgley imposed a six month sentence suspended for 18 months. Mould must complete 120 hours of unpaid work and 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days.