A HAMPSHIRE man found with £5,000 of synthetic drug Spice has narrowly avoided a prison sentence.

James Russell, 21, wept in relief when he heard he was not going to be jailed immediately.

Winchester Crown Court was told that Russell, of Bar End Road, Winchester, was spotted by a PCSO during a drug handover on the city's High Street on January 10.

He was stopped and immediately confessed that he had the drugs as well as a knife.

His home was searched and police discovered 691 grams of the psychoactive drug as well as £835 in cash, said James Kelham, prosecuting.

The court heard that Russell told the police: "I only did this to give my son a good life. The one thing I wanted was to buy him a pedal car.

"You don't know how disgusting it (dealing) is, to have me thinking he had dirty cash."

Russell admitted possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of Class B and also the three-inch knife.

The judge, Mr Recorder Nick Atkinson QC, sentenced him to 12 months’ imprisonment suspended for two years, with 20 days of rehabilitation activity and 22 sessions of the Thinking Skills Programme.

Russell must reside at the Emmaus homelessness project for six months and also pay a £140 surcharge.

Karen Kay, a counsellor at Emmaus in Winchester, told the court that Russell had referred himself to Emmaus on February 6 but unlike other self-referrals had stayed and was starting to turn his life around.

"He had heard about Emmaus and was desperate for someone to help him. He did not know where to start on the right path. He was terrified. He was lost. To make such strides in a short time is incredible."

The judge told him: "These are serious charges. It is a particularly vicious form of synthetic drug." But he said it was important for Russell's mental health issues to be addressed.

Chief Inspector Kerry Loveless, Hampshire Constabulary lead for psychoactive substances, said: “This conviction is an important milestone for Hampshire Constabulary, being one of our first prosecutions relating to psychoactive substances. These drugs are extremely dangerous, being manufactured from chemicals not intended for human consumption.

“Nationally, we have seen first-hand the devastating effect that use of these drugs has for individuals and their families. I hope that this result will send a clear message to those supplying psychoactive substances that our approach to these tackling offences is robust.”

The judge ordered the drugs, knife and cash be forfeited.

Russell told the judge that he wanted to stay at Emmaus. "I don't want to leave, for my own benefit. If I leave I will screw my life up."