appeal against his sentence dismissed.

But he may receive the opportunity to go abroad for treatment for his drug addiction -- pending the outcome of an assessment process.

Puisne Judge Norma Wade-Miller last week ruled the two-year sentence handed to Mervyn Smith in November last year for offering to supply heroin was not harsh or excessive.

During the hearing Crown Counsel Leighton Rochester said Smith, 43, formerly of Bob's Valley Lane, Sandys Parish, was caught during the drugs operation last year.

He said he was videotaped trying to sell what turned out to be heroin to a police officer on Broome Street.

He had originally pleaded not guilty but later charges were amended and he admitted to offering to supply a controlled drug. Mr. Rochester outlined other convictions during Operation Cleansweep for the supply of cocaine and cannabis, that ranged from 18 months to three-and-a-half years.

Drug paraphernalia was also found at Smith's house and he said he did not consider the sentence to be harsh.

Smith, who was unrepresented in court, said he had pleaded guilty on advice that his sentence would be lowered.

He said he did not deny offering to supply something to an officer but questioned whether analysis had proved whether or not it was actually heroin.

Legal representation had been denied to him, he said, depriving him of what was a constitutional right.

Smith said there was little or no drug counselling at Westgate and asked that the court try something new, by letting him join a rehabilitation scheme, instead of going back to his old ways when his sentence finished.

Mr. Rochester said a few people had been sent to a Salvation Army home in Toronto, Canada, to join a drug programme. But he said it had been at a cost to their families and the National Drug Commission.

Mrs. Justice Wade-Miller agreed to have Smith return to court to see whether an overseas drug rehabilitation scheme was a possibility for him and to hear from a relative of his.

On Wednesday, Intake Officer Stephanie Burrows informed Mrs. Justice Wade-Miller that treatment at a Canadian facility could cost as much as $20,000 Canadian.

And she said it would take officials six-weeks to make all of the arrangements for Smith to go abroad for help.

However, all of the arrangements depended on whether Smith was a viable candidate for rehabilitation, she said.