A JUDGE sitting in Carlisle has spoken of her hope that 'the law will catch up with science' as she highlighted how illegal magic mushrooms contain a chemical which is being hailed as a treatment for depression.

Recorder Samantha Presland made the comment as she sentenced Eden Valley man Joe William Forrester, 25, for possessing the class A drug.

Her had earlier admitted possessing both magic mushrooms – which contains the compound  psilocybin currently being used in medical research to combat depression - and the Class B drug cannabis.

The defendant also admitted driving while not insured.

Carlisle Crown Court heard that the Forrester, of Glebe Road, Appleby, committed all three offences in Penrith on October 9 last year -  but the prosecution accepted that he had both illegal drugs for his personal use only.

Recorder Presland noted that the defendant was a man of 'reasonably good character' before he recently 'went off the rails.'

She also accepted an assessment which had concluded he was now addressing his use of illegal drugs and he was cooperating with the Probation Service.

Referring to the magic mushrooms offence, the Recorder told Forrester: “Even though it is now used in various medical studies and has been found to break the chain of depression and anxiety, it is still a criminal offence, so I am going to give you a 12-month community order and 50 hours of unpaid work…

“Hopefully, one day, the law will catch up with science because it does seem to make a mockery of the system where drugs are tested and seen to be incredibly effective at breaking the chain of anxiety and depression…

“Yet they are now illegal.”

The Recorder highlighted a clinical trial being conducted at Bristol University in which the illegal compound in magic mushrooms was also being used to treat people with long-term alcohol dependency.

The Recorder declined to ban the defendant for the uninsured driving offence, adding: “I’m not going to disqualify you from driving because in this neck of the woods it would make life absolutely impossible.”

She said her decision came after she had experienced a week of living in Cumbria while sitting at the city's crown court.

She imposed six penalty points on Forrester’s driving licence after he blamed the offence on a mix-up.

Recorder Presland also extended by two months the terms of an 18-month suspended jail sentence imposed on the defendant for his earllier offence of possessing an imitation firearm.

The 50 hours of unpaid hours will be added to the 150 hours he was given for that earlier offence.

He committed that offence in the summer of 2020 after arriving for a late-night meeting with another man in an Appleby car park armed with an imitation gun.

Forrester had pointed his fake weapon at the man, leaving him terrified. He later pleaded guilty to possessing an imitation pistol with intent to cause his victim to fear unlawful violence.

The judge in the case said that at the time, Forrester was 'entirely out of control.'