TWO men caught during a drugs raid were yesterday jailed for two years.

Dale Jaffray's lawyer had argued that he could be given a community punishment because he had only £200 worth of cocaine when police swooped.

Jaffray, 25, of Midhurst Road, Middlesbrough, admitted dealing the drug, but said he only sold it to friends to help fund his own habit.

He was arrested with Raymond Myers, 48, when police searched Myers's home in Rutland Court, Middlesbrough, in November 2010.

Cocaine worth £1,750 was found in a safe in a bedroom with a set of digital scales and grip-seal bags, said Joanne Kidd, prosecuting.

Myers said he had been bullied into looking after the packages to settle a debt to a loan shark, but refused to tell police who had approached him.

Both men admitted possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply and appeared at Teesside Crown Court to be sentenced by Judge Peter Bowers.

John Gillette, for scaffolder Jaffray, said he had rehabilitated himself since his arrest nearly 18months ago and had stopped taking cocaine.

Judge Bowers told Jaffray he did not acceptMr Gillette's interpretation of the guidelines which put him at the bottom of the scale.

He told Myers: "You were warehousing for somebody whom you have protected and it is your head above the parapet, and you take the rap for that."