A man has been jailed after police spotted him exchanging items with another man who emerged from bushes at a Warrington park. Farrell Armstrong, 29, was seen by plain-clothes police officers sitting on a park bench on 17 July 2024, when another man emerged from nearby bushes in Loushers Lane Park.
The officers witnessed a hand-to-hand exchange between the two men before the second man disappeared back into the bushes. Armstrong, who was smoking cannabis, was approached and searched by the officers.
Police found cannabis separated into snap-bags, £465.48 in cash, and a smartphone that repeatedly received messages during the search. A subsequent search of Armstrong's address revealed white powders, purple pills, white crystallised balls, empty snap-bags, a mobile phone, and electronic scales.
Testing confirmed the substances were MDMA and ketamine, as well as psilocin and psilocybin, the active ingredients in magic mushrooms. The combined value of the drugs was estimated to be between £2,440 and £3,515. Data recovered from the mobile phone also implicated Armstrong, revealing messages relating to the supply of drugs.
Armstrong was sentenced to two years and four months in prison at Chester Crown Court on 8 June. At an earlier hearing, he had admitted a string of offences, including possession with intent to supply a Class A controlled drug (magic mushrooms), possession with intent to supply a Class B controlled drug (cannabis), possession with intent to supply a Class A controlled drug (MDMA), and possession with intent to supply a Class B controlled drug (ketamine).
