Sunderland cancer patient spared punishment after resorting to bootlegged drugs

A Sunderland man pained by surgery bagged a stash of legal but bootlegged drugs when those given by medics failed to alleviate his suffering.

James Trott, 59, was found with hundreds of tablets of several different medications when police raided his house in South Terrace, Southwick.

Trott had undergone treatment for bowel cancer and needed follow-up surgeries to get him back to full fitness, a court heard.

It took police forensic experts eight months to analyse his haul, uncovered on Friday, October 7.

During that time, he was brought before a court to face a separate charge in relation to possession of legal drugs not prescribed by a medical professional.

Prosecutor Paul Anderson said: “The police visited the defendant’s home with a warrant and found a variety of class C drugs.

“There seems to be boxes of stuff that’s clearly the kind of stuff you get from a chemist. He has a stash of tablets that would normally be prescribed tablets.

“The delay seems to be that they’ve had to be analysed by forensic services which took until June.

“On June 15 he appeared for a similar offence, similar drugs, and was fined. The forensic results came just after.

“It would have been better for everybody if we’d been able to get this before the courts on the same day.”

Trott pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of class C controlled drugs.

Chris Wilson, defending, said Trott self-medicated after follow-up surgery and due to suffering an infection.

He added: “During the period of time that it took to get him fit for surgery, he was, unfortunately, self-medicating.

“The doses were of a volume for pain relief. His pain relief medication was not hitting the mark. He sourced out other medication.

“He can hopefully put this behind him now that he’s had surgery. Quite clearly this matter should have been dealt with in June.”

Magistrates told Trott his latest offence was “a matter of left over history”, adding: “The matter has already been dealt with.”

They handed him an absolute discharge. There were no court costs.