A University of Hull student after pleading guilty to importing cannabis, purchased through the dark web using bitcoin.
The student, who was to enter his final year in September, pleaded guilty to fraudulently importing a Class B drug into the UK.
Customs’ officers intercepted a parcel labelled as specialist welding equipment, addressed to the student. They discovered 145 grams of herbal cannabis, valued at £828.57. Police arrested the student at his university home.
Steven Welch, prosecutor at Hull Crown Court, reported:
“He was interviewed and made full and frank admission to the police. He said he was expecting 112 grams of cannabis, which he had paid £600 for.”
He added that the student stated that the purchase was for himself and three other university friends.
He asserted that the student was “not aware about the illegal nature of importation,” and that the drugs were bought online in order to avoid meeting face-to-face with a drug dealer.
Recorder Jeremy Hill-Baker acknowledged the student’s cooperation, sparing him of jail time and instead ordering him to complete 250 hours of unpaid community work and to pay £300 in court costs. He said:
“I initially thought it inevitable I was going to send you to prison, but I took the view that the appropriate action is one of a community order. This action was done to save money, and may this be a permanent reminder not to do drugs.”
The university is located in Kingston upon Hull, which one of the earliest forms of genuine, government-backed digital currency. HullCoin, designed to aid the ailing local economy, was intended to be paid out for volunteer work and to be spent on city taxes, rent and groceries.
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