A STARTLED criminal had the shock of his life when he arrived home carrying a bag of cannabis and a knife...and found a police officer waiting on the other side of the door.

Officers had called at the Pineapple pub, where Levi Cull's grandmother was the landlady, looking for another man.

But when Levi Cull came home and an officer opened the door they discovered him standing on the doorstep with a bag of drugs in one hand an a knife in the other.

Cull was caught after a short chase through the beer garden at the pub on Blackburn Road, Astley Bridge, on November 15, 2017.

At Bolton Crown Court, Jonathan Savage, prosecuting, told how officers had called at the pub at 11am looking for another man they believed to be living there.

They were let in by Cull’s grandmother who, at the time, was the pub’s landlady.

But while they were there officers heard a banging on the back door and someone asking to be let in.

Astonished Cull found himself facing officers who opened the door and spotted the drugs in his hand.

“The defendant was going home and didn’t expect to be confronted by police,” said Kevin Liston, defending.

“He didn’t have time to do very much with the items in his possession”

The bag Cull was holding contained cannabis worth £630 and, when handcuffs were being put on him, police found he had a folding knife in his other hand.

A search of his bedroom at the pub revealed cannabis preparation equipment and two more bags containing 10 resealable bags of cannabis, worth £200 in total.

He also possessed three mobile phones, two of which had messages relating to dealing the drug.

Cull, aged 22, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis with intent to supply and possessing a knife in public.

Mr Liston said Cull had been dealing in order to pay his own drug debts. He had started using the drug at the age of 13 and it had developed into a £40 a day habit.

“It is an all too familiar tale,” he added.

Mr Liston stressed that the offences were committed more than a year ago and, since that date, Cull has committed other crimes for which he has completed a prison sentence.

Sentencing Cull to eight months in prison, Judge Stead told him: “The general public are naturally concerned about the possession of knives and sharply pointed objects in public and for good reason.”

The judge commented that if there had not been a delay in bringing the case before the court, the defendant may have been behind bars and therefore unable to commit the later offences.

He added: “It has taken a long time to bring you [Cull] before the court. That is not readily justifiable.

“People are regularly being required to wait, not months, but even years before action is taken on matters that have already been investigated.”

Mr Liston agreed that delays in bringing cases before the court are becoming commonplace around the country, not just in Greater Manchester.