Worthing's
Cannabis Champion Jailed
Source: The
Worthing Herald, UK
Pub Date:
Thursday 15 January 2004
Subj: Worthing's
Cannabis Champion Jailed
URL: http://www.worthingtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=472&ArticleID=724149
Cited: Legalise
Cannabis Alliance http://www.lca-uk.org/
Chris Baldwin http://www.ccguide.org/chrisbaldwin.php
Ref: Cannabis Cafes http://www.ccguide.org/cananbiscafes.php
CANNABIS
campaigner Chris Baldwin has been jailed for six months after running a
Dutch-style "coffee shop" in Worthing.
Around 30
supporters watched from the public gallery at Chichester Crown Court on Friday
as Baldwin was sentenced for running the Quantum Leaf café in Rowlands Road,
which was fronted by cannabis paraphernalia shop Bongchuffa.
Angry shouts
came from the gallery as Judge John Sessions sent Baldwin, 53, of Carnegie
Close, East Worthing, to prison. Police officers had to clear the public
gallery after some of the campaigners would not leave the court. Baldwin
appeared only days before cannabis is reclassified from a class B to class C
and Judge Sessions said he was sentencing with this in mind.
At a previous
hearing Baldwin, who stood as a candidate for the Legalise Cannabis Alliance
(LCA) in the 1997 General Election, pleaded guilty to two counts of possession
with intent to supply, two counts of possession of cannabis, two counts of
supplying the drug and cultivation of cannabis.
Mark Benson, 38,
of Irene Avenue, Lancing, and Winston Matthews, 47, from Horley, also appeared
for sentencing. Benson worked in Bongchuffa. He pleaded guilty to two counts of
permitting premises to be used for the smoking of cannabis, possession of cannabis
and cultivating cannabis plants. He was given a four-month curfew order between
the hours of 7pm and 6am.
Matthews worked
behind the counter in Quantum Leaf. He pleaded guilty to two counts of
possession with intent to supply, two counts of possession of cannabis, two
counts of supplying the drug and cultivation of cannabis plants and was given a
four-month suspended prison sentence.
Judge Sessions
said he accepted Baldwin had opened the café as a political statement and the
defendants all used the drug to alleviate the pain from serious medical
conditions.
The police
carried out a series of raids of the Quantum Leaf café following its opening in
May, 2002. The majority of the charges appearing at Chichester Crown Court on
Friday related to a raid on November 27, 2002.
Peter Woodall,
defending, said Baldwin has suffered from spastic paraplegia since the age of
seven and has been smoking cannabis for 30 years. The court also heard evidence
from Edward Ellison, a former Metropolitan police officer who served on the
drug squad. He met Baldwin at LCA marches and described him as "a man of
great courage, great humour and great humility". Baldwin had been given
two suspended prison sentences for previous cannabis related offences and Judge
Sessions said he would be making "a mockery of the law" if he did not
send him to prison.
He said Baldwin
was receiving a reduced sentence in light of his medical difficulties and
reclassification of the drug on January 29. Judge Sessions told Baldwin:
"You are genuinely and honestly committed to trying to persuade the
government to a change in the law.
"Your campaign is supported by many. Those who have supported it
are often people who have been in pain for many years."