A BRIERLEY Hill man caught with £10 worth of heroin just days after being given a suspended prison sentence has been allowed to keep his freedom.

Police officers recovered the controlled drug when they raided the High Street home of Ashley Westwood on September 9.

The 25-year-old had been given a nine month jail term suspended for 18 months on August 27 on a charge of assault causing actual bodily harm coupled with supervision.

At Wolverhampton Crown Court, Judge Anwar Nawaz ruled he would not activate the suspended sentence because it was clear Westwood had been doing well under the order and keeping appointments.

He said it could also not be disputed that the heroin had been left over from a batch bought by Westwood before his earlier sentence.

As he gave him a conditional discharge for six months, the judge told Westwood: “There is no evidence to contradict your assertion.”

Mukhtar Ubhi, for Westwood, told the court the drugs found in the raid by police had been left over from heroin he had before he was sentenced.

He said Westwood had been using drugs for some time but he had made a positive response to his community order.