A HAPLESS drug dealer who handed a stun gun to a policeman when he asked him for a torch has failed in an Appeal Court bid to win a cut in his five year jail term.
Arthur Kearford, 35, of Raymond Avenue, Grimethorpe was jailed at Sheffield Crown Court in April after he pleaded guilty to having the stun gun and possessing heroin with intent to supply.
Mr Justice Forbes, sitting with Mr Justice Treacy at the Appeal Court in London, refused to cut his sentence, dismissing the argument it was 'manifestly excessive.'
The judge said Kearford was initially arrested when police raided a home in Barnsley in September last year. Officers found the property was too dark and so one of them asked people inside for a torch.
Kearford then passed the officer something which the policeman switched on. He then realised it was not a torch, but was, in fact, a stun gun. Kearford was arrested.
A few weeks later, police raided Kearford's own home where a stash of wraps of heroin and crack was found.
Lawyers on Kearford's behalf today argued the sentence meted out was simply too long given the facts of the case.
But dismissing the appeal, Mr Justice Forbes said the sentence imposed "could not be faulted."
