A COCAINE dealer has been given a ‘once in a lifetime’ chance to stay out of jail after he was caught with a stash of drugs at Newton Abbot railway station. 

David Evans was returning to Devon after picking up a consignment which he planned to take himself or sell to fiends to pay for his habit. 

He had £240 cash and messages on his phone setting up sales.

He was handed a suspended sentence by Judge James Adkin at Exeter Crown Court but warned that he would go straight to jail if he dabbles in drug dealing or any other crime in the future. 

Police arrested Evans at the station on March 15, 2022, but it has taken more than two years to come to court during which Evans has overcome his drug addiction and become a rail maintenance worker who is supporting his young child.

Evans, 36, of Grange Drive, Teignmouth, admitted possession of cocaine with intent to supply and was jailed for 18 months, suspended for two years and ordered to do 200 hours unpaid community work. 

The Judge told him: ‘I am just persuaded to suspend this sentence, against my better judgment. If we meet again you will go to prison. This is a once in a lifetime chance.’

Miss Pip Harper, prosecuting, said police searched Evans after stopping him at the station and noticed he was sweaty and nervous. 

The found cocaine sub divided into wraps in a Kinder Egg container and recovered more of the drug when they searched his home.

Messages on his two phones showed he was dealing in drugs and the total street value of the 12.48 grams seized was calculated at between £970 and £1,470.

Mr Paul Dentith, defending, said Evans started dealing in a very small way at a time when he was not working because he was helping his partner cope with the birth of a premature child. 

He was only selling for six weeks to a group of six friends who were already drug users. 

He has since tackled his own addiction and concentrated on working as a rail contractor in Cornwall to support his young family.