A BARROW man who threw cocaine worth almost £3,000 from his car as he fled from the police has been jailed.

Jack Woolcock, 30, was caught after police stopped his Audi car in the town on November 9 of last year.

Officers told him that he would be searched, prompting him to drive away from the scene, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

As he drove away from the officers in what witnesses said was an “erratic” manner, bystanders saw him throw two packages out of his car window. A later analysis showed the packages contained cocaine worth an estimated £2,800.

The cocaine proved to be 70 per cent pure.

Though the defendant initially denied the offence, Woolcock later admitted possessing the class A drug with intent to supply.

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The court heard that his criminal record comprised of 30 previous offences - but none of them were drug related.

Richard Vardon, defending, said the defendant had lived alone after leaving the care system and this had been an unhappy experience.  “He very much had to fend for himself,” said the barrister.

After working in Manchester he had returned to Barrow but struggled to find work. He did eventually land a job working on new wind turbines in Barrow, earning £400 per day. The barrister said the street pre-sale value of drugs was £1,400, a sum that Woolcock could have earned in four days.

The defendant’s role had been that of a courier.

In the run-up to the offence, Woolcock, of Briar Court, Barrow had been down on his luck and he was offered £300 to transport the drugs from point A to B, something he agreed to do before he landed his job on the wind turbines.

Recorder Paul Hodgkinson said that the way in which Woolcock drove away from the police after being stopped as he tried to flee had put other road users in danger. Witnesses also saw him taking a corner on the wrong side of the road.

When police initially stopped his car, he told the officers: "I've been expecting you." Yet after his arrest, he gave a "no comment interview."

The defendant was jailed for 45 months.

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