A homeless drug 'courier' was paid just £150 to load up an Audi with a huge amount of cannabis, a court has heard.

Police had been on patrol in Bolton on the afternoon of March 3, 2022, when they spotted an Audi A6 that they believed may have been stolen and had false licence plates attached.

More than two years on, Bolton Crown Court heard how officers then saw a man later identified as Kemar Rebaz Hamed going up to the car.

Prosecutor Eleanor Gleeson said: “He was carrying two bags, which he placed in the boot of the Audi.”

On stopping him, the officers found that the bags contained as much as 1.2KG of cannabis, while they also found mobile phones, cash and other “drug paraphernalia".

The Bolton News: The case was heard at Bolton Crown CourtThe case was heard at Bolton Crown Court (Image: Newsquest)

Ms Gleeson said that the value of the cannabis could have ranged from £5,000 to more than £12,000 depending on how it was sold.

She said that Hamed’s role was to be a “courier” and that when questioned by police he said he had been paid £150 by an unknown man to load up the Audi.

Ms Gleeson said: “The defendant stated that he was homeless and that he did not know what was in the bags, although he conceded that he suspected the male was involved in the drugs trade.”

Hamed, of Cavendish Gardens, Daubhill, told the police that he had not taken or sold any drugs himself and when brought before the magistrates court pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply Class B drugs.

But Ms Gleeson accepted that Hamed, who has no previous convictions, had played a “lesser role.”

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Graham Rishton, defending, asked simply that the court deal with Hamed in the way set out in reports from the probation services.

Recorder Alexandra Simmonds reminded the court that the cannabis could have been worth as much as £12,000 but accepted Hamed’s limited role in the trade.

Addressing the defendant directly, she said: “You told the police that you had been asked to do this by somebody else, that you were homeless at the time and that you did not know what was in the bags but that you suspected it might be drugs.”

Recorder Simmonds sentenced Hamed to a 12-month community order and ordered him to complete 150 hours of unpaid work.