A JUDGE described as shambolic the handling of a case against a Swindon cocaine and cannabis dealer caught with £500 trainers and four phones stashed in a mattress.

Barristers were left scratching their wigs after it emerged the police record for fresh-faced Finn Nicholson was wrong.

The 23-year-old received a suspended jail sentence last year after he was found with almost 900g of skunk cannabis in his bedroom.

But the police national computer record – the official account consulted for DBS and other criminal record checks – wrongly listed him as having been convicted for dealing class A drugs.

The final straw for Judge Jason Taylor QC was learning the court in October last year had not been told police had charged Nicholson with new drugs offences.

Ordering the police record to be corrected, Judge Taylor told the court: “This whole case is a bit shambolic.”

He added: “It is wholly unsatisfactory. You’ve got somebody who is a young man, but more importantly he’s been sentenced since for similar offences.”

The judge asked prosecutor Tessa Hingston why it had taken so long to get the case to court given police had raided Nicholson’s home in May 2018.

Ms Hingston said police needed to analyse information from four phones: “That seems to be one of the factors why the drugs cases are taking so long to come through the system.”

The court was told drugs officers had raided Nicholson’s Devizes Road flat on May 23 last year.

They found almost £2,000 in cash, a pair of £500 trainers, 2.6g of cocaine with a street value of up to £350, a cutting agent used to dilute the cocaine and 22.7g of cannabis worth an estimated £170.

Nicholson, who has 11 previous convictions and in 2017, answered no comment to questions in his police interview.

The 23-year-old, of Brunswick Street, Old Town, admitted possession with intent to supply cocaine and cannabis.

Ani Yeghikian, defending, said Nicholson had not felt the consequences of his offending until he was sentenced at the crown court in 2018.

“This was the turning point for him,” she added.

Her client was now working as a scaffolder and complying with the terms of the suspended sentence order made last year.

Judge Taylor

sentenced Nicholson to two years’ imprisonment, suspended for two years.

He must abide by a six-month curfew and complete a further 20 rehabilitation days.