Low level drug dealer jailed

AN Ipswich dealer who sold drugs to feed his habit has today been jailed.

Barry De'ath was sent to prison for a total of three years and six months after police found heroin and crack cocaine in the Hawke Road house he was living in last May.

Mark Roochove, prosecuting at Ipswich Crown Court, said when police raided the house they found De'Ath in a first floor bedroom which was equipped with a CCTV monitor which showed the front entrance of the house.

The 48-year-old who was also known to have lived in Holbrook road, Ipswich, was in possession of two wraps of crack cocaine valued at £40.

Drug paraphernalia, a mobile telephone, £900 cash and four grams of cannabis worth £22 were also seized.

Further searches revealed a black sock hidden under a television which contained 36.8 grams of heroin valued at £2,380.

Initially De'ath admitted possessing heroin, crack cocaine and cannabis but denied intending to supply the heroin.

The court heard that on the first day of his trial De'ath who had previous drug related convictions changed his plea to guilty to possessing heroin with intent to supply.

Jamie Sawyer, mitigating, said his client was “a serious drug addict” and urged the judge to sentence him to a drug rehabilitation requirement.

He said: “He's been a drug user for years. A few years ago he tried to get off drugs but couldn't.”

He said De'ath had managed to work as a sub-contractor for a building firm during part of his addiction which grew to a £100 a week habit.

Mr Sawyer said the cash found in De'ath's possession was money he had saved to get away from “the drug scene”. He added that the CCTV system was to prevent vandalism and was not installed as “an early warning system” against police.

Judge John Devaux said to De'ath: “You are as dealers go towards the lower end of the scale. I'm not satisfied you have the motivation to carry out a drug rehabilitation project with any real chance of success.”