A GROUP of best friends who plotted to supply ecstasy at music festivals and within their west Cumbrian community have been spared immediate prison terms.
Carlisle Crown Court heard how the five 20-year-old pals were guided by a sixth man, also aged 20, who offered expertise on how to source the illegal drug online.
More than 300 ecstasy tablets, said to be worth more than £3,000, were bought by one of the men although two-thirds of these were later recovered by police who discovered the plot.
Each of the six admitted conspiring together to supply ecstasy, over the course of several weeks last summer.
They were sentenced at the crown court.
The men in the dock were Matthew Edward Fye, of Dearham, Maryport; Aden Wainwright, of The Parklands, Cockermouth; Peter James Spencer, of High Brigham, Brigham, Cockermouth; Michael John Foster, of Wasdale Close, Cockermouth; Declan Reece Birkett, of Gilcrux; and Stuart Ian Leckey, of Tallentire, near Cockermouth.
Judge Barbara Forrester heard the men were all of previous good character, and imposed suspended prison sentences, along with unpaid work and curfews.
But Judge Forrester branded them "stupid, spoiled boys".
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