Michael Thompson was dividing up cannabis from a Tesco bag and weighing it on electronic scales

Drugs squad officers became suspicious when they saw the Ford Fiesta on a remote car park, and when they approached it there was an overpowering smell of cannabis, said prosecutor Paul Abraham at Teesside Crown Court.
The pair of 19-year-olds were dividing up cannabis from a Tesco bag and weighing it on electronic scales. They said they were waiting for two friends who would have bought it for £20 a bag.
The car driver said he had bought the drug on credit for £600 and he would have made £1,000 profit.Mr Abraham added: "It would appear to have been a mobile cannabis factory, and they were separating it into deals."They also had £195 cash inside a Paystation box, a silver shaker used for separating cannabis, a set of electronic scales, and 12 clear plastic bags containing cannabis. They were taking it from a Tesco bag and separating it."Michael Thompson, now 20, pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis with intent to supply it on December 8, 2006, at Piercebridge near Darlington.Judge Bryan Forster QC told him: "People speak highly of you and you have let yourself down by becoming involved in what that other person was doing.
"You are clearly capable of much better and I am sure you have brought a lot of distress to your mother and your family by what has happened."
Thompson of Bates Avenue, Darlington, was given a four months sentence in a young offender's institution suspended for 12 months with supervision, 80 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £250 court costs.
The driver was sentenced in January to 12 months detention suspended for two years with 120 hours unpaid work after he admitted the same charge.