A young Exmouth father who supplied cocaine to friends and made a small profit for himself has been jailed for 15 months. At Exeter Crown Court 24-year-old Leslie Simpson pleaded guilty to two charges of supplying cocaine, one of possessing it and one of

A young Exmouth father who supplied cocaine to friends and made a small profit for himself has been jailed for 15 months.At Exeter Crown Court 24-year-old Leslie Simpson pleaded guilty to two charges of supplying cocaine, one of possessing it and one of possessing cannabis.He was caught when police searched his home and found some cocaine, plastic bags, scales and text messages on his mobile telephone.When officers asked him what he had been doing, he admitted he had supplied two friends with cocaine to fund his own habit and he had also made a small profit of �20 from the enterprise.Mitigating, Nick Bradley said Simpson now realised the gravity of what he had done, although he did not realise how serious it was at the time.He accepted that he faced a custodial sentence because the message had to go out to others as to how serious supplying Class A drugs was."The very fact of his going to prison will make it clear to those who dabble at a social level what will happen to them," said Mr Bradley.Passing sentence Judge Miranda Robertshaw told Simpson of Churchill Road, Exmouth,: "You have been a recreational user for three years and saw it very much as a social pursuit which generally you could control. But you got to a point where you were spending a lot of money on cocaine and slowed down because your partner was pregnant. You then stopped when your baby was born but your friends were still using the drug and they paid you �300 to buy some for them."You spent �280 on seven grams, gave them three grams each and kept a gram for yourself together with the �20 profit. This was a serious venture and an established arrangement on which you had embarked for a couple of months. "You did not consider yourself a dealer and did not try and recruit customers. "Your arrest and coming to court has been a salutary experience for you and you express regret and remorse for the impact and implications your actions will have for your partner and child. "But the supply of cocaine must attract an immediate prison sentence.