Judge spares Thatcham heroin dealer Daniel Quenalt from prison sentence

THE ravages of heroin addiction – including limb amputation and heart infection – were starkly outlined in a courtroom.

Sitting in a wheelchair in the dock at Reading Crown Court on Friday, May 16, was Daniel Quenalt.

He was due to be sentenced for possessing the Class A-controlled drug with intent to supply it to others.

His barrister, Wayne Cranston-Morris, told the judge: “Addiction to drugs has broken this young man’s body, as Your Honour can see with his own eyes.

“He has lost one leg and is in very real danger of losing his second leg as well.”

The court heard that police were patrolling in Thatcham when they spotted 36-year-old Quenalt.

Acting on a tip-off that he had been dealing drugs, they spoke to him and later found wraps of heroin at his home in The Haywards, Thatcham, alongside a stolen tracksuit and evidence of cocaine dealing.

Quenalt admitted possessing heroin with intent to supply and receiving stolen goods on July 24 last year.

In a police interview he admitted he had been dealing recently to fund his own habit.

At an earlier hearing at the magistrates’ court Quenalt had also admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply it on the same occasion.

But the crown admitted this charge had been laid by mistake as no actual cocaine had been found.

The judge, recorder Douglas Edwards KC, said it would be “an affront to justice” to allow that to stand, despite Quenalt’s admission, and found him not guilty, thereby overturning the conviction.

However Quenalt has 79 previous convictions for theft and drugs offences, the court heard.

Mr Cranston-Morris outlined his client’s drug-induced health problems, including a heart infection, and suggested these would be difficult to manage in a prison environment.

In addition, he said, Quenalt had a broken arm – the consequence of being attacked by people “who wanted to know what was happening in this case”.

He said Quenalt was now benefitting from a new therapy which involved injections of a drug that blocked the heroin ‘high’ and reduced cravings.

Mr Cranston-Morris said Quenalt had consequently cut the cost of his habit from £100 per week to £30 per week.

He pleaded for his client to keep his liberty and added: “This is, in effect, his only chance.

“He can’t keep coming back and seeking the sympathy of the court – it just won’t work.”

Mr Cranston-Morris asked for “an act of mercy” towards his client and concluded: “He knows that, if he finds himself anywhere other than in prison tonight he’s a very lucky man.”

Quenalt was, apparently, a lucky man.

He was sentenced to an 18-month community order with a drug rehabilitation requirement (DRR) and a requirement that he complete up to 30 days of rehabilitation activities.

In addition, Quenalt was ordered to observe a curfew between 10pm and 8am for six months.

Finally, he was ordered to pay a statutory victim services surcharge.