THE Court of Appeal could be asked to overturn a sentence on a teenage drug dealer who was allowed to walk free after a judge said jails were overflowing.

The move came as a parrot dealer criticised the same judge after he was jailed for two-and-a-half-years.

The Crown Prosecution Service last night said it is considering whether to appeal the non-custodial sentence given to 19-year-old Thomas Scarth by Judge Guy Whitburn on the grounds that it was unduly lenient.

Scarth, of Roseberry Road, Redcar, was caught with 83 wraps of heroin and was filmed by police stashing drugs behind the bumper of a Ford Escort.

He was given a suspended 12-month sentence and ordered to carry out 100 hours of community punishment by the judge, who said jails were full.

Last night Martin Goldman, the chief crown prosecutor for Cleveland, said he expected Scarth would have been given custody for possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply.

He said: "We will be carrying out a thorough review of the prosecution case, the judge's remarks and the probation reports, together with the relevant case law and guidance as to what sort of sentence might have been passed.

"Our aim is to review the circumstances with a view to reaching an unbiased and uninfluenced decision on whether this sentence should be referred or not.

"We appeal sentences so very rarely and consider that judges generally get sentencing right within a range of possibilities.

"This, however, is a relatively rare example of a judge taking a sentencing view that is well outside the usual boundaries."

The judge's decision has been criticised by the mayor of Middlesbrough, Ray Mallon, who accused the judge of failing to show good judgement.

The drug dealer's MP, Vera Baird, who is also a barrister, said the judge was wrong to spare Scarth jail.

And the recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Peter Fox, said courts had not been ordered to give offenders more lenient sentences because of prison populations.

Meanwhile, a pensioner convicted of smuggling parrots has hit out at Judge Whitburn.

Harry Sissen, 67, of Cornhill Farm, East Cowton, near Northallerton, said Judge Whitburn should be "struck off".

Mr Sissen was jailed by Judge Whitburn in 2000 for smuggling nine rare macaws.

The parrot breeder, who has always protested his innocence, said: "Even if I was guilty, all I did was bring in nine birds from Yugoslavia to England without the correct papers.

"Guy Whitburn sentenced me to two-and-a-half years, half my birds were confiscated and I got a £150,000 fine.

"When I refused to pay, they threw me in jail for another 21 months - I only got out when I paid £50,000 and I still owe more than £130,000.

"But he lets this drug dealer, who causes misery, walk free - he should be struck off."

Representatives for Judge Whitburn last night said he did not wish to enter into any further discussions, nor add anything further to his comments in court.