Budding lawyer fined for dealing cannabis
BBCA student hoping to forge a career as a lawyer has been fined £1,000 after being caught dealing cannabis.
Police spotted Umair Arfan, 24, handing over the Class B drug to a man in Sunderland in July 2023, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
The court heard he hoped to return to his native Pakistan to work as a lawyer and the drugs bust had been a "wake up call".
Arfan, of Bonners Raff in Sunderland, admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply on the basis he was sharing it with his friends.
A plain clothed police officer saw Arfan stop his Honda Civic on a street in Sunderland and hand over a package to a man on 23 July 2023, the court heard.
Believing a drug deal had just been completed, officers followed Arfan as he drove away and stopped at a nearby cash machine where they challenged him.
Two golf ball-sized packets of cannabis were found in his car and his phone showed evidence of arranging handovers of the drug, the court heard.
In mitigation, Rachel Hedworth said Arfan and his friends had pooled their money to buy the drugs and he was not selling them to make a profit.
She said he was in the final year of his bachelors degree at Sunderland and had plans to complete a masters at Northumbria University in Newcastle before returning to Pakistan to work as a lawyer.
Ms Hedworth said his arrest had been the "wake up call he needed".