AN OSWESTRY 'street level' drug dealer who admitted possessing and intending to supply cocaine has been spared jail on Wednesday.

Callum Matthews, 20 and of Henley Drive, Oswestry, had initially expected to be jailed in September 2022 following a guilty plea to possession with intent to supply cocaine in June the same year at Telford Magistrates Court.

On Wednesday, February 8, he returned to Telford to be sentenced by District Judge Peter Veits, as part of Shrewsbury Crown Court, and was given a sentence of 20 months, suspended for two years.

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Matthews was stopped by police in Oswestry in September 2020, charged with a variety of motoring offences, but was also caught with a large amount of money which led to officers obtaining a warrant to search his home where they found cocaine and associated paraphernalia.

Matthews was considered to be a ‘street level’ dealer, with packets of cocaine and mobile phones found at the property – however, at his crown court appearance last year, Judge Peter Barrie heard from the prosecution that the defendant's involvement 'overlapped' between a significant and lesser role.

DJ Veits also sentenced Matthews to 30 rehabilitation activity days, 100 hours of unpaid work while the cash and drugs found at home was forfeited and destroyed, respectively.

Matthews will also be pay costs of £400 plus a victim surcharge of £156.

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