A couple caught running a drug dealing business which included selling brownies laced with cannabis have walked free from court.
Jordan Stewart, who was selling cannabis with the help of then-partner, Ellie Callan, had even created his own branding for the enterprise and adverts were sent out to customers.
Newcastle Crown Court heard a search warrant was executed at Stewart's home in May 2021, when he was not present but Callan was. A number of items were seized, with cannabis found in the kitchen and two bedrooms, along with brownies containing drugs. There was also £900 found in a safe in the bathroom.
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A phone was seized from Callan showing she was involved in helping Stewart in his drug dealing business. Rachel Glover, prosecuting, said of the phone: "There were images of cannabis on the phone along with advertisements.
"Also, in the notes section, there were instructions for producing cannabis shatter with stock lists for cannabis shatter. On a mobile phone taken from the bedroom there was data attributed to Callan and it was an old mobile phone belonging to her. In the notes section there were stock lists and sales lists."
A phone seized from someone else arrested in another drugs operation contained messages between that person and Stewart on Snapchat. Miss Glover said: "There was branding found in the property matching the Snapchat account which seems to be a business name created by Stewart. There were stickers with the business name on it."
She added: "It looks like they have been extracting oil to make shatter and brownies."
In total police seized 196.65g of cannabis and 90.75g of THC. There were also brownies worth up to £570 and cannabis shatter.
Stewart, who has six previous convictions, including possession with intent to supply in 2018 and possessing drugs, and Callan, who has no previous convictions, both admitted possessing cannabis and THC with intent to supply and being concerned in the supply of cannabis.
Stewart, 23, of Kirkdale Green, Newcastle, was sentenced to a community order for two years with rehabilitation and £340 costs while Callan, 21, of Charlotte Close, Newcastle, got a 12-month community order with rehabilitation.
The court heard Stewart is now displaying a more mature attitude, is working and Judge Christopher Prince decided to impose a community order instead of a suspended prison sentence so as not to affect his job prospects.
The court heard Callan had got involved after a family tragedy and she also has a medical condition. The judge said: "I've no doubt you were behaving out of character at a low time in your life and there's every opportunity to put your life back on track."
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