A class A drug user walked free from court yesterday after the judge ruled he should “suffer no more for dabbling in cocaine” than Michael Gove.
Judge Owen Davies QC upheld a legal argument with the defence that he should not be punished any more than the former Lord Chancellor.
Gove, who is still in the running to become the next Prime Minister, has admitted to taking the drug at parties twenty years ago.
Those caught in possession of a class A drug can be sentenced to up to seven years in prison, which Gove himself admitted he was “fortunate” to avoid.
But the defendant, who has not been named, was given a conditional discharge after suggesting “he should suffer no more for dabbling in cocaine than should a former Lord Chancellor.”
A source close to Judge Davies explained yesterday that he made the remark during legal argument with the defence, and not during sentencing.
“I think the judge was trying to make a joke rather than a political point,” the source told the Telegraph.
Tim Kiely, who represented the defendant in court, tweeted: “Who says humour and justice don’t mix?”