Ecstasy dealer caught out with false name

A man who absconded from Christchurch and started a new life at Mt Maunganui has been jailed for two years and three months for possession of the drug ecstasy.

Christopher John Gardner, 30, was sentenced in Christchurch District Court today after he was found in Christchurch in 2008 with 29 ecstasy tablets he admitted he was going to sell.

He did not turn up to his initial court date and was later arrested in Mt Maunganui, where had a taken up a good career and was being sent to conferences overseas, the court was told. He was arrested after he was caught with cannabis and gave a false name to police.

Judge Jane Farish said Gardner was obviously a man of potential but had underestimated how addictive drugs were.

Gardner, who had a prior conviction in 2007 for dealing in LSD, was convicted and discharged for giving a false name.

- NZPA