A PRISONER in Vigo has been told his sentence will be suspended – as long as he grows his hair.
Identified only by his initials of A. F. C., the accused was arrested for drug-dealing in the Galicia town and is said to be a repeat offender, but is in the process of rebuilding his life.
He faces three years in jail and a fine of €2,800, and his lawyer is fighting to avoid his having to serve his sentence.
Prosecutors have agreed to apply for it to be suspended as long as A. F. C. ensures his hair is never less than three centimetres (just under an inch and a half) long.
This curious condition has a very sound reason behind it: the accused cited as mitigating factors that he was a cocaine and heroin addict and that this has caused him irreparable psychological damage.
His solicitor says A. F. C. has 'fought hard' to break his habit and is still in detox treatment at a Vigo centre.
The dealer said he was 'going through a bad moment' and had stopped his treatment and given up the methadone he was prescribed, but insisted he intended to go back to rehab and on the medication.
One of the magistrates said: “It's not me you need to convince, nor should you be trying to lie to yourself.
“For your own good, it's best you don't play that game any more, because if you take drugs again you'll go straight to prison,” she concluded.
In order for his sentence to be suspended, the accused has to prove he has been off the drugs for a certain length of time.
Forensics will test samples of his hair over the next three years, since hair 'stores' information and it is possible to see how long ago a person consumed illegal drugs – or even prescription or over-the-counter medication.
As human head hair grows at a rate of around a centimetre (nearly half an inch) a month, A. F. C. will be required to keep his own hair at least three centimetres long so forensics can see, at any time, whether he has taken drugs in the last three months.
A. F. C. was caught on Vigo's C/ San Paio in June 2016.
He was pulled up riding his scooter, which officers described as 'a proper mobile pharmacy' – in the top box, he had stored 15 grams of cocaine diluted with Levamisol, valued at around €3,000, plus 90 Trankimazín tranquilliser pills, two bags of cannabis and 133 units of methadone.
The photograph shows an unrelated drug haul following a National Police raid in a separate incident in the same month.
