CANNABIS FOUND INSIDE FLUFFY TOY

A FORMER soldier has been given a suspended sentence after police raided
his home last July and discovered a "fluffy toy" stuffed with cannabis.

Belfast Crown Court yesterday heard that when police forced their way into
54-year-old Joseph Wright's Jaffa Street home in the Shankill area of the
city, they discovered 220 grammes of cannabis wrapped in bags inside a
fluffy toy and a cut-out in the centre of a Yellow Pages book.

Wright said he had been approached by paramilitaries to mind the drugs and
was "scared" to refuse them.

In return, according to Crown counsel, he received "a few pints" but wasn't
paid.

Defence lawyer Charles McCreanor said Wright was "manipulated by more
sinister people" who used him as a "minder".

Mr McCreanor described it as "a serious but also very sad case", as Wright
had no previous record and had served 17 years in the Royal Fusiliers.

Judge Norman Lockie noted Wright had been under pressure from
paramilitaries and sentenced him to 12 months jail suspended for three
years.