Dorset Drug Addict Denied Appeal

By Andrew Hendry

A drug addict with a £700 a week habit is today behind bars after producing crack cocaine in his dad’s garden shed.

David Eaton, 32, was denied appeal by Bournemouth Crown Court after being found guilty of possessing cocaine with intent to supply, as well as being concerned with its supply.

Eaton was arrested on October 23rd 2007 following a police raid on his father’s house on Michelen Close, Poole.
Police found a hydraulic press, typically used to prepare cocaine, in a shed at the bottom of the garden. Eaton was also found to be in possession of the drug when arrested.

Eaton claimed that he had been holding the press since 2004, for a friend who later died in prison.
He told the court that an associate had recently offered him £100 to use the press, but that he himself was not involved in the production of cocaine.

Judge Christopher Harvey-Clark QC denied Eaton’s appeal for a lesser charge, after he concluded that the condition of the hydraulic press showed clear signs that it was frequently in use.

He also discussed Eaton’s lifestyle, saying Eaton had “spent £700 on cocaine in the past few weeks”.
Eaton previously said that all his friends are drug users and admitted to borrowing money off of a number of them to fund his own habit.

Harvey-Clark QC ordered for the immediate destruction of the drugs found at the scene and adjourned the court until Friday 18th April, when Eaton will hear his final sentence.