A 16-year-old boy who owed thousands of pounds to a county lines drug dealing gang was forced to come to Ipswich to sell drugs, a court heard.

The boy was arrested after police officers were alerted to suspected drug dealing in St Matthew’s Street and saw the boy and another male leaving a flat, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

He jumped from a balcony onto a flat roof 15ft below and threw away 38 packages containing crack cocaine, said Peter Gair, prosecuting.

The teenager was taken to hospital and later told police he owed thousands of pounds to a county lines drug dealing gang and had been told to come to Ipswich to sell drugs.

The boy, who cannot be named because of his age, admitted possessing drugs with intent to supply and was given a three-year intensive supervision and surveillance order, an electronic curfew, a 180 day activity requirement and was banned from Suffolk for six months.

Judge Rupert Overbury said the boy had moved on from where he was and deserved a chance to prove he could stay out of trouble.