A MAN caught with a stash of drugs for supply to others for the fourth time was today (Tuesday, December 1) jailed for two years.

David Simpson was found to have 697g of amphetamines, worth an estimated £6,970 in street-sale terms, at his home address when police visited on “unrelated matters” on Wednesday, November 4.

Durham Crown Court heard that Simpson tried to make his way from the property when police called, so he was apprehended and brought back by officers, who then conducted the search.

Victoria Lamballe, prosecuting, said it unearthed 672g of amphetamines, recovered from a plastic box in a bedroom shoe-rack, plus a further 25g in another box.

A set of scales was also recovered, implying use in dealing, but, when interviewed about the recovered drugs, Simpson made no replies.

Miss Lamballe said Simpson was on bail at the time over an allegation of burglary from school premises.

It follows the recovery of a quad bike and a compactor for tarring and gravelling, taken in a break-in from a boiler house at Framwellgate School Durham overnight on March 2-3.

They were found in a search of a garage alongside Simpson’s nearby home, the following afternoon and returned to the school.

The thirty-four-year-old defendant, of Woodbine Road, Pity Me, near Durham, today (Tuesday, December 1) admitted a charge of handling stolen goods.

As a result the prosecution offered no evidence on the burglary charge and a formal ‘not guilty’ verdict was recorded.

Simpson admitted possessing amphetamines with intent to supply at a recent hearing.

The court heard it was his fourth such conviction over the last dozen years, all of which have resulted in prison sentences.

Miss Lamballe said the handling charge was Simpson’s first for an offence of “dishonesty” since 2007.

He received a sentence of seven years and three months at the court in March that year for conspiracy to burgle the former DH1 nightclub, in North Road, Durham, in which £37,691 was taken from a safe, in October, 2005.

Scott Smith, mitigating, said Simpson doubted the estimated valuation of the amphetamines recovered from his home, as he put it at nearer to £2,000.

Mr Smith said the drugs were not “for sale on a street corner” but to share among like-minded people at social evenings.

Jailing him, Judge Christopher Prince said the aggravating feature of the case was the fact it was Simpson’s fourth such conviction.

He will now be subject to proceeds of crime inquiries, with a confiscation hearing to take place at the court in March.