A North Oxford drug dealer was thrown a lifeline to get help with his long-standing drug addiction – and keep himself out of prison.
Patrick McFarlane, 61, was in front of the city’s crown court on Friday (October 13) to be sentenced for selling heroin and crack cocaine in Oxford back in September 2021.
But the judge, Recorder John Bate-Williams, put the case back for a fortnight after learning that addiction service Turning Point was looking to potentially put him through a residential rehabilitation programme.
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The defendant had been deemed suitable for a place on the Oxford Rehab Project, a trailblazing partnership between the courts, prison service, NHS and the police that sees repeat offenders offered rehabilitation places as an alternative to sometimes lengthy jail sentences.
Defending, Eiran Reilly told the court: “That’s what he’s looking for. He wants some help with drugs.”
Turning Point asked for a short adjournment for enquiries to continue into suitable residential rehab places and to secure funding for a 12 week stay.
Ultimately, however, it will be for a judge to decide whether to give McFarlane a chance at rehab or impose an immediate prison sentence.
Recorder Bate-Williams remanded McFarlane, of Sherrif’s Drive, Oxford, in custody to return to the crown court on October 30.
He told the defendant: “After a lengthy period of addiction, you’ve reached a point where you really do want to tackle and overcome your addiction and the only way that is going to be possible is by a period of residential, that is live-in, rehabilitation.”
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