A JUDGE spared a reformed drug abuser after hearing how he had been found with a bag of cannabis while subject to a suspended sentence.

Judge Gary Burrell QC heard how Samuel Cooke had been stopped by police after seeing him drive out of a New Forest car park.

Prosecutor Chris Stopa told Southampton Crown Court that the teenager immediately admitted he had drugs and police recovered a small bag of cannabis which he said he had bought for £10.

Cooke, 19, admitted possessing cannabis, which put him in breach of a suspended sentence imposed for having cannabis with intent to supply.

Darren Bartlett, defending, said Cooke had fully cooperated with the police in interviews and was now drug-free.

Cooke, of St Luke’s Road, Bournemouth, received a nine-month suspended sentence coupled with a 150-hour community order and a three-month curfew.