THE drug dealing son of a Benefits Street star has today been jailed for five years after being caught selling heroin and crack cocaine.

Lee Nutley – whose father, also called Lee Nutley, appeared on the controversial TV documentary when it was filmed on Stockton's Tilery Estate – boasted about having "the strongest stuff on Teesside", a court heard.

The 22-year-old admitted possessing the drugs with intent to supply, and supplying them, but claimed he was pressured to get involved.

A judge rejected what Nutley's lawyer admitted was "a rather elaborate account" telling him: "You have simply tried to avoid your responsibility by lying."

Damning text messages along with photos of piles of cash and drugs were found on a mobile phone after a police search early last year.

Here are some of the text messages which nailed Nutley:

  • "Started selling the pure on the rock . . . that's what my new crack will be."
  • "Spread the word, I've got the purest of pure, bro."
  • "All my stuff is insane, mate."
  • "On my daughter's life, it's the best of the best. I sell it every day."
  • "When I'm saying pure, it's pure on the rock mate. It's f*****g dynamite."
  • "Strongest stuff on Teesside mate. My life is on it, my unborn daughter's life, mate."

Officers were called to his rented home in Cowper Road, Stockton, by his partner, Chloe Smith, who claimed he was threatened by a man with a hammer.

Nutley claimed he had tried to stop selling drugs for a gang of Turkish refugees after a debt was "more than paid off" and the attack was a warning.

He said despite a series of text messages to his customers, he had no idea how to make crack and knew nothing about drugs until he met the "ten Turks".

Prosecutor Paul Abrahams put it to the young father: "It is quite clear from all the evidence that you were dealing and making money out of it off your own bat."

Nutley claimed the texts were either prepared by the pushers, or he had learned the language and was using it to "promote" the products he sold.

He said he could not remember who he had sent one message to - records showed it was his partner - boasting about making £500 and planning to get a tattoo.

Nutley told Teesside Crown Court he earned no money from the deals, and was heavily in arrears with rent, council tax and water bills with a child on the way.

Judge Howard Crowson told him: "The prosecution do not accept your account. I don't have any difficulty at all in rejecting it. Frankly, I don't believe it."

  • Lee Nutley senior, aged 42, was found dead last October in Kingston Road where the Channel 4 series was filmed. There were no suspicious circumstances.

On the show he spoke about coping after being laid off from his construction job and his battle with depression.