A TEENAGE drug dealer, allowed to walk free by a judge who said jails were overflowing, has been jailed by the nation's most senior judge.
Thomas Scarth, 19, who was filmed by police stashing drugs behind the bumper of a car, escaped a prison sentence at Teesside Crown Court after Judge Guy Whitburn said jails were too full.
Instead, in a controversial decision, Scarth was handed a 12-month suspended sentence and a 100-hour community service order.
However, Appeal Court judges today accepted arguments made on behalf of the nation's top law officer - the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith QC - that the sentence was "unduly lenient".
The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips - sitting with Mr Justice McCombe and Mr Justice Gross - handed jobless Scarth a two-year custodial sentence.
At the Crown Court, Scarth, of Roseberry Road, Redcar, had admitted possession of class A drugs with intent to supply after being found with 83 wraps of heroin and his own business cards.
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