A 19 year old Stroud man who dealt in cannabis told a judge that being placed on supervision "has completely changed my life."

Judge Jamie Tabor QC praised George Jackson's 'fantastic' progress since he was sentenced by Gloucester crown court a year ago.

The judge accepted a probation service recommendation that he should bring Jackson's two year supervision order to an end a year early because of his progress.

Jackson of Marlborough Terrace, Stroud, had confessed to the dealing when police arrested him and found 34.78 grams of cannabis in his holdall on July, 4 2011.

Another 19.98 grams of cannabis as well as scales and digital phones with dealing messages on them were found at his home.

Jackson admitted possessing £570 worth of cannabis with intent to supply and dealing in the drug between Feb 2010 and July 2011.

He was sentenced at last October's hearing to 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years with supervision, 140 hours of unpaid work and a 9pm-6am home curfew for 12 weeks.

On Tuesday, October 2,  probation officer Sian Worrall told the court:  "He has completed all the requirements of the order. He has also completed a BTech in building services.

"His offender manager feels there is a very low risk of him re-offending. She asks for the supervision element of his sentence to be deleted because of good conduct."

Judge Tabor asked "Has he rid himself of his cannabis habit?"

Jackson replied "Yes."

"You had a massive cannabis habit," said the judge. "Yes," said Jackson, "it was really bad."

"You have sorted it out?" asked the judge. "Yes, it's taken a while," replied Jackson.

The judge asked Jackson if he had read the results of a recent New Zealand study which showed that people who smoke cannabis between the ages of 14 and 18 suffer from reduced intelligence as a result.

"You have found supervision helpful?" asked the judge. "It has completely changed my life, the entire process," said Jackson.

"That's fantastic," said Judge Tabor. "And you've got a good job now. Well done, a success story."