THE ex-husband of a drug dealer jailed for the manslaughter of a vulnerable customer has been cleared of handling drugs money.

David Storey, 36, has been found not guilty of taking £14, 000, the proceeds of his former partner's lucrative drug dealing business, to prevent her from facing prosecution.

Melanie Storey was the chief prosecution witness in the trial against her ex-husband at Teesside Crown Court this week.

She is currently serving an eight year jail term at Durham prison for the manslaughter of Desmond Johns, 43, who died in her home after she gave him a fatal injection of heroin.

The 32-year-old mother-of-three had told the jury on Tuesday that her and David Storey sold heroin to addicts on the Tudhoe Moor estate in Spennymoor, County Durham, earning them around £500 a day.

Storey's ex-husband had been accused of transferring drugs money deposited in her sister, Stephanie Jewitt's building society account, which had been frozen by police, and then going on a spending spree.

The trial, which began on Tuesday was listed for five days, but yesterday following lengthy discussions in private the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to proceed with the case.

Prosecutor Shaun Dodds told the jury: "In light of developments since the start of the trial I am instructed to offer no further evidence." The CPS had earlier alleged that Mr Storey had transferred money from Jewett's account into his own and then spent the cash on two secondhand BMW cars, CD's and clothes.

Judge Tony Briggs told the jury that under the circumstances a not guilty verdict should be returned on Mr Storey, of Ullswater Close, Spennymoor.

Melanie Storey had earlier pleaded guilty to concealing the proceeds of drug trafficking and her sister pleaded guilty to transferring the proceeds of drug trafficking.

Both will be sentenced at the same court on Friday January 15.