A COCAINE user turned dealer had more than 27 times the legal driving limit of the drug in his system when police stopped him at the wheel of his BMW car, a court heard.

Daniel Yeates was handed his first prison sentence of three years after his use of the drug became so prolific he turned to selling the Class A drug to pay off his debts.

Durham Crown Court heard that “acting on information” a marked police vehicle followed the 24-year-old's BMW through Peterlee shortly after 9pm on November 9 last year.

It was stopped near the town centre and officers found a six gram bag of cocaine and a £10 note in the central console, said Jonathan Walker, prosecuting.

When arrested and tested for drugs, he was found to have 279mg of cocaine in a litre of blood, compared to the legal limit for driving of 10mg.

Mr Walker said a further search at the Peterlee home of his then girlfriend uncovered £2,320 from a bench and a bread bin, two small packets of cocaine and a significant array of bags containing different quantities of the drug in a bedroom, along with a set of scales.

He said the cocaine was all of high purity, between 80 and 89-per cent, much greater quality than the average for street sales.

A total of 307g of cocaine were recovered with a street value of £11,250.

Yeates did not answer questions about the drugs and cash recovered, or an apparent dealer’s note found on the bedroom floor as well as text messages on his phone implying drug trading.

But at a plea hearing, Yeates, of Eden Lane, Peterlee, admitted being concerned in the supply of a class A drug, and drug driving.

Stephen Constantine, mitigating, said there was, “a degree of naivety” about Yeates’ activities, in not making further reductions in purity levels to maximise his profits.

He added that Yeates was of previous good character and several references were handed in.

The court heard the defendant had used cocaine “in increasingly heavier amounts” since the age of 16, and suffered heavy bouts of depression at times trying to give up the drug.

Mr Constantine said Yeates borrowed heavily to meet his addiction which led him to “take the stark choice” of becoming involved in the supply of the drug to help meet some of his debts, while funding his own usage.

But, Mr Constantine added that the defendant has sought medical help and is now free from the use of any drugs.

Sentencing him to three years in prison, Judge Christopher Prince said Yeates should be more aware than most of the dangers posed by cocaine and the way it can ruin users’ lives.

He also banned him from driving for 30 months.