TWO Carlisle men have admitted possessing the class A drug cocaine with intent to supply.

James Gill, 29, and Liam Gilmour, 30, appeared side by side in the dock of the city’s Rickergate court where they were asked to enter pleas to a joint charge that they possessed the drug with intent on November 25 last year.

Both men pleaded guilty.

The case involves almost 50g of high-purity cocaine which police found in a bag which prosecutors say was thrown from a property in Carlisle where the men were living at the time of the police investigation.

The drug is understood to have been 85 per cent pure. Though its value was not specified in the hearing, it will have been worth thousands of pounds.

Police launched the investigation after stopping Gilmour as he drove a van and discovering that he was carrying three wraps of the class A drug, which was 72 per cent pure.

In the property linked to the defendants, that was subsequently searched, police found digital scales, with traces of white powder as well as the bag thrown from a window, with its incriminating contents.

District Judge John Temperley noted that there was “nothing significant” on Gill’s criminal record since 2014 apart from a cocaine possession allegation from last year. He ordered a pre-sentence background report on him.

This will be prepared by the Probation Service.

Gilmour, on the other hand, was currently the subject of a court order and the judge said the court would need an update on his progress with that order. He told the defendants they were guilty of playing a “significant role” at least in the supply of the drug.

This meant that his sentencing powers as a consequence would not be sufficient and so he sent the case to Carlisle Crown Court.  He sent the case to that court for a sentencing hearing on May 14, releasing both men on bail in the meantime.

Gilmour, who was represented by defence lawyer Anthony Wilson, gave his address was given in court as Burnrigg, Carlisle, while Gill, represented by defence lawyer Chris Toms, lives at Skiddaw Road, Carlisle, the court heard.

Both defendants spoke only to confirm their personal details and to enter their pleas.