Doncaster van driver caught with heroin, cocaine and cannabis

A van driver who was caught with heroin, cocaine and cannabis has been spared from time behind bars after he claimed he had been working as a courier to pay-off a debt.
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Sheffield Crown Court heard on December 14 how Neil McMillan, aged 36, of Ivanhoe Road, Balby, Doncaster, was stopped by police on East Laith Gate, Doncaster, before officers discovered the drugs and cash in his van.

Ian Goldsack, prosecuting, said: “Police stopped a van that Mr McMillan was driving on East Laith Gate in the centre of Doncaster and he was asked if he had anything in the van that should not be there and he indicated a couple of bags.”

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Police recovered 21 wraps of synthetic cannabis valued at £105, diamorphine wraps valued at £50, and 25 wraps of crack-cocaine valued at £125, according to Mr Goldsack.

Sheffield Crown Court, pictured, heard how a South Yorkshire van driver claimed he was forced to deliver drugs to pay-off a debt.Sheffield Crown Court, pictured, heard how a South Yorkshire van driver claimed he was forced to deliver drugs to pay-off a debt.
Sheffield Crown Court, pictured, heard how a South Yorkshire van driver claimed he was forced to deliver drugs to pay-off a debt.

Mr Goldsack added police also found a shoulder bag with £242.92 in cash and a lock-knife in the vehicle and they recovered £120 in cash and another small lock knife from the defendant.

McMillan, who has no previous convictions, stated to police he had agreed to drive the van to help pay-off a debt.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply and to one count of possessing a class B drug with intent to supply on the basis he was a courier. McMillan also admtted possessing a bladed article after the incident on September 5, 2018.

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Katy Rafter, defending, said McMillan drove the van to pay-off a debt and he had no other role apart from being a driver and he is genuinely remorseful for his actions.

She said: “The defendant accepts he was driving that night. He says that was in order to discharge a debt so he has to accept he was motivated by financial advantage.”

Ms Rafter added McMillan has had the matter hanging over him for over two years and there has not been a satisfactory explanation from the CPS for the delay in bringing the case to a conclusion.

Judge Sarah Wright sentenced McMillan to two years of custody suspended for two years with a Rehabilitation Activity Requrement and a three-month curfew.

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