A man who sold cannabis at a Suffolk music festival has walked free from court after a judge decided not to send him straight to prison.

Oliver Hellis was stopped by police as he was leaving Latitude Festival on July 16 last year and admitted taking a quantity of cannabis to the festival to sell to friends, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

When he was arrested he was found in possession of £3,000 cash in £100 bundles, which he conceded was the proceeds of drug dealing, said John Farmer, prosecuting.

Hellis’ mobile phone was seized and was found to contain messages going back to January last year, which showed he had been dealing cannabis.

Hellis, 20, of Heron Road, Saxmundham, admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis between January and July last year, possessing cannabis with intent to supply on July 16 last year and possessing criminal property.

He was given a nine month prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered to do 120 hours unpaid work in the community.

A hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act will take place in August.

Sentencing him, Recorder Rex Bryan said: “Courts take the supply of drugs to young people very seriously.

“You had the beginning of a business and in fact you are very lucky that your business was nipped in the bud as if it had got any bigger the court wouldn’t have been able to take the course it has taken today.”

The court heard that Hellis had been at Latitude with a large group of friends he’d known from school and sixth form.

He told a probation officer that his family was disappointed with what he had done and described himself as “feeling like an idiot”.

The court heard that Hellis, who has 14 GCSE’s and A levels in maths, chemistry and physics, had dropped out of university as a result of the court case hanging over him but was hoping to go back in the future.

Laura Kenyon, representing Hellis, said her client was intelligent and had potential and very much regretted this “unfortunate blot on his character”.

She said he no longer used cannabis.