A WEST Cumbrian offender who has been convicted of his fourth drug trafficking offence has been jailed for six years.

Former soldier Simon Gilmour, 47, was handed the sentence despite his defence lawyer outlining his traumatic background, which included witnessing tragedies at the notorious Deepcut Army Barracks in Surrey.

At an earlier hearing, the defendant, of Duke Street, Cleator Moor, admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply.

At Carlisle Crown Court, prosecutor Brendan Burke outlined the offending, describing how the defendant was caught with 28.3g of the class A drug.

The offence was uncovered on December 13 last year.

The court heard that Gilmour had three previous drugs supply offences on his record, dating back to 2003, 2009, and 2012, when he was given a six year sentence.

This meant that Gilmour was at risk of a mandatory minimum seven-year sentence unless there are "exceptional circumstances" that would render so long a sentence unjust.

Mark Shepherd, defending, said the defendant had been “at the bottom of the food chain” of drugs supply. There was also evidence found on Gilmour's phone to show that he was being threatened by higher level drugs criminals.

Mr Shepherd asked Recorder Julian to consider the long period that had elapsed since the defendant’s last drug supply conviction, which involved on 9oz of a class A drug.

Gilmour became addicted to Class A drugs after serving in the Army in the 1990s at the Deepcut Army Barracks, said the lawyer.

This was at a time when “some terrible things” happened and people lost their lives at the barracks. “Mr Gilmour sadly was a witness to that,” said Mr Shepherd.

He had been unable to remove those memories from his mind.

Mr Shepherd said: “It’s been made more difficult by the fact that over five years or so he has been called back to the south to attend inquests, but there are no satisfactory answers...

“When he left the armed forces he became addicted to Class A drugs to block out thoughts and feelings from what occurred.”

The defendant had been deeply scarred by that experience. While in Durham Prison, where drugs were available, the defendant had used will power to become drug free, said Mr Shepherd.

“He wants a better life,” added the lawyer.

Recorder Shaw accepted that the Gilmour was “at the bottom end of the food chain” of drug supply and while he had benefitted from a good education the defendant was himself addicted to drugs.

“I can’t ignore the personal circumstances that Mr Shepherd has addressed,” said the Record, though he did not regard these as exceptional circumstances.

Given the defendant’s guilty plea, the judge reduced the seven year to term to six; he also ordered that £8,372 which police seized from Gilmour at the time of his arrest should be forfeited.

Read more: Civil injunction granted against man causing trouble at Bransty in Whitehaven

Read more: The Deepcut Review