A MAn running a York pub used the premises to sell stolen phones and ran a drugs trade, York Crown Court heard.

Stuart Semple had a safe of mobile phones when police raided his flat above the Bootham Tavern in Bootham, York, said Andrew Semple, prosecuting at York Crown Court.

He had advertised two iPhones for sale on eBay although both had warning messages on them triggered remotely by their true owners that they were stolen.

His own phone had text messages indicating that he had offered to sell mephedrone.

Semple, 32, pleaded guilty to two charges of handling stolen goods and one of eBay fraud on the basis of "wilful blindness" in that he had suspected the phones were stolen but hadn't been sure that they were. He also pleaded guilty to being concerned in offering drugs for supply.

York Press:

He told a probation officer he had had a business buying, repairing and selling used phones and had done some trades with "dodgy people".

He also told the officer he used drugs "recreationally" and had not touched any since his arrest.

He was given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months on condition he does 160 hours' unpaid work.

The phones in his safe were confiscated on the grounds they didn't belong to him.

His barrister Alex Williams said of the offences: "They were out of character. He realises now the risks of buying and selling goods. He has changed his ways."

The prosecution barrister said the owner of an iPhone stolen on September 3 in York used an app on it that could be triggered remotely so that it displayed a message warning that the phone was stolen whenever it was switched on.

Stuart Semple advertised it on eBay with a picture showing the message, the police were alerted and he was traced.

He had also sold another iphone on eBay that was bought for £45 to £50. That had been stolen by a youth who had asked to borrow it from the true owner and then walked off with it. The buyer saw a similar warning on it when he switched it on.

He had not been a major commercial supplier of the drug.