A DEALER caught with drugs during three raids at his home has been jailed for six years.
Neil Stubbs had a stash of cocaine worth £300 and bundles of cash totalling £700 when police searched his home last May.
During a second search four months later, officers found eight wraps and a line of the drug on a coffee table.
In a final raid just a month after that, over £5,000-worth of cocaine was found along with more than £800 in cash.
The 49-year-old, of Elmore Lane, Easington Lane, County Durham, admitted two charges of possession with intent to supply and asked for one possession charge to be taken into consideration.
The court heard that during the first raid at Stubbs’s home, police found a stash of weapons, which they removed, but they had been replaced when officers went to the house during the third raid.
Prosecutors have launched an investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act to seize any assets Stubbs has gained through crime.
Prosecutor John Brennan told the court: “All the knives etc had gone from the front door, but they now found there was a crossbow at the front door.”
As well as the weapons, cash and drugs, Mr Brennan said officers found lists of debtors, with a “substantial amount of money upon them”. Mr Brennan said: “In interview, he repeatedly said he would give his explanation at a later date.”
The court heard Stubbs is about to become a grandfather for the first time, which has made him vow to turn his back on drugs for good.
Glen Gatland, defending, said Stubbs started taking cocaine to cope with his health problems, but soon started dealing to fund his own habit.
He said: “He started taking cocaine as a relief, as he saw it, from the effects of angina.
“That suddenly escalated.
“He is full of remorse for what he has done.
“He realises he placed his own health at risk of deterioration through use of drugs.”
Mr Recorder Kealey told him: “You were granted bail on two occasions, and your offending escalated.”
The judge said a letter he received from Stubbs was a “heartfelt expression of remorse”.
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