Former Wakatipu High School pupil who sold drugs to fellow teenagers will spend the next 10 months in prison.
George McCrostie (18) yesterday admitted three charges of supplying cannabis to a person under 18 years old last year.
He also admitted breaching a supervision order.
In the Christchurch District Court yesterday, Judge Raoul Neave told McCrostie he came from a good family who gave him a great start in life which he had thrown away.
McCrostie was an immature and unmotivated young man, an obvious effect of his addiction to cannabis.
But Judge Neave told McCrostie it was clear during his time in prison he had achieved some clarity and made good progress towards making positive changes.
Taking into account McCrostie's youth, good behaviour in prison and guilty plea, he sentenced him to 10 months' prison.
Wakatipu High School principal Steve Hall referred the ODT to a school newsletter this month.
It said the first pupil caught by police supplying drugs to other pupils during school hours - understood to be Jessy Wilson-Rowe (17), who is awaiting sentencing - was expelled by the school's board of trustees disciplinary committee after a hearing in the first week of the school year.
Two other pupils were identified during the police investigation as buying drugs at school.
Mr Hall said the committee had decided to allow them to return to school with ''significant'' conditions, ''which includes drug testing''.
A special assembly was held at the school on February 5 to inform the pupils of the outcome, during which Mr Hall said he would do ''everything that I can do to ensure that there are no drugs at WHS''.
That included working with the police, ''using bag searches if appropriate'' and suspending pupils involved with drugs at the school.
''As a principal, a key responsibility is to ensure a safe learning environment for all 800-plus students and staff, which includes that violence, alcohol and drugs are not acceptable at WHS,'' the newsletter said.
''For the last two years, we have worked hard on this and, as principal, my position on this and my commitment to this remains unchanged.
''I also made it clear to students that being suspended and going through a disciplinary committee is a serious process for students and their families and that while these two students have been allowed to return to school, in different circumstances this could be a different outcome.''
