A WINDERMERE chef supplying illicit drugs to a man in Ambleside sent him threatening messages after he failed to settle a £600 debt.

Twenty-five-year-old Ryan Charles Moss told the man: "You’re playing a dangerous game."

The defendant – who was selling cannabis and cocaine to fund his own addition to the latter– went on to tell his victim he had seen people who were in a similar plight “lose fingers,” Carlisle Crown Court heard.

Moss, of Broadfield, Troutbeck Bridge, was jailed for 29 months.

He had earlier pleaded guilty to three offences: sending malicious communications – threatening Whatsapp messages; and being concerned in the supply of two illegal drugs, Class A cocaine and Class B cannabis.

The drugs offences were committed Ambleside between October 18, 2020 and March 11 this year.

The court heard that the victim of Moss’s threatening messages had feared for his safety after receiving the messages on March 10.

The threats were accompanied by a demand to repay a £400 drugs debt with another £150 on top.

The victim had moved to the area in September, 2020 and developed a drugs habit.

It was initially the defendant who had supplied him on a weekly basis with cocaine and cannabis.

The drugs were worth £50 and £40 respectively.

When Moss found himself unable to source that quantity of drugs, the court heard, he put the customer in touch with another drug dealer.

But in January, the man lost his job, though it was agreed that once he had a new job he would repay his debt.

When police visited Moss at his home, officers found four bags of cannabis in a jar next to his bed.

His phone also contained messages indicative of him being concerned in supplying drugs.

Chris Evans, defending, said the defendant’s drugs offences were “very low level.”

The lawyer said of Moss: “He made very little money and he’s had a cocaine problem for many years.

"That developed into a habit which required him to start supplying.”

By the time of his arrest, he had stopped supplying cocaine, said Mr Evans.

As a chef working in the Lake District, the defendant’s industry was badly hit by the pandemic.

“Foolishly,” continued the lawyer, “he became involved in a quarrel between [the victim and his new supplier] and he made ridiculous threats.

"There was never any intention to carry that out.

“He’s embarrassed by the language he used.”

Recorder Richard Archer said drug dealing was always serious because of the profound effect it can have on people.

“Your addiction to cocaine is what ultimately led you to this court today,” the judge told Moss.

Recorder Archer said the defendant had not made things better by making his “particularly unpleasant threats.”

Ruling that the drugs offences deserved 28 months jail, and the malicious communication offence a further one month's custody, Recorder Archer said the total sentence of 29 months jail was too long to be suspended.