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AN ICE cream van man was caught with cannabis in his van outside a school, a court heard.

Mario D’Adamo, 47, was searched after police were tipped off by a rival ice cream man who “had an axe to grind”.

He appeared in Bridgend Magistrates’ Court yesterday and admitted being involved in the supply of cannabis and possessing cannabis.

Magistrates were told the Class B drug was found in a tobacco tin on the van’s dashboard outside Ynysawdre school, Bridgend.

D’Adamo, of Heol Dwyrain, Bridgend, told police his dealer was a man he knew only as “Fred” and that he had bought £20 of cannabis near the Welsh school in Brackla, Bridgend, a few days prior to his arrest.

His lawyer admitted that he arranged for others to buy cannabis from Fred, and that he drove them to meet the dealer, but claimed he did not sell directly. D’Adamo had text messages on his phone which seemed to relate to drugs.

One said: “Have you picked up?” and another said: “Can I have a £10 bag one ounce?”

D’Adamo claimed these were in relation to his selling tobacco. Police asked him where he bought this tobacco from, and he told them his supplier was a different man, also known as Fred.

Clerk Roger Brown questioned whether there was any chance D’Adamo had used his ice cream van to sell drugs to school children.

Deena Loynton, prosecuting, said: “Police acted on the information they had, which caused them to attend to search for drugs. I can’t say any more than that, just that no evidence shows the defendant supplying to children at the school.”

Deena Loynton, prosecuting, said: “On the day in question, officers noted he and another person were in the van’s serving area. They recovered cannabis leaf on the dashboard and he admitted it was his.”

D’Adamo said he had been taking cannabis for six years, after hurting his leg in an accident. He said Fred phoned him every day or so, from an unknown number, asking whether he wanted drugs, and they would meet at different locations.

Dan Heard, in mitigation, said: “There was no evidence he was dealing drugs to schoolchildren, or anywhere near that school.

“The information is believed to have come from a rival ice cream vendor, who has an axe to grind.”

“He takes people to various locations, and they purchase drugs from Fred. He does this to continue his own supply.”

Speaking after the case, D’Adamo said he was being targeted by the rival vendor.

He said: “My van is marked for drugs and I get stopped all the time. It was a very small amount of cannabis. My van was impounded for three weeks and I lost all my ice cream.”

He pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis between September 14 and 16 last year, and possessing cannabis.

The court adjourned for reports, and D’Adamo will be sentenced on February 16.