A DRUG dealer who used his brother's home as a base to run his illegal trade is starting a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

Sean Bradley was caught twice within a month with heroin and cocaine - while he was on bail following another seizure four months earlier.

The 21-year-old's barrister, Richard Herrmann, told Teesside Crown Court that his drug use and dealing "escalated" throughout last year.

The court heard how "modest" amounts of substances were found in the first police raid at the flat in Wynyard Mews, Hartlepool, last April.

But on subsequent visits - twice in August - the stashes were "very significant", and other people were drawn into Bradley's crimes.

His brother, Patrick, 23, the tenant of the first-floor flat, was arrested, along with friends Shaun Dennis, 33, and Michael Williams.

Dennis, of Elgin Road, Hartlepool, had been a gopher for dealer Bradley, while Williams was found with a rock of crack cocaine in one raid.

Williams, 25, of Inch Grove, Hartlepool, received a six-month jail sentence after he admitted a charge of possessing Class A drugs.

Patrick Bradley pleaded guilty to allowing his premises to be used for the supply of Class A drugs and received an eight-month sentence.

Dennis, whose fingerprints were found in the loft where some of the drugs were hidden, admitted being concerned in the supply of drugs.

He was jailed for 20 months, and was told by the judge: "You were not the brains of the operation. You acted on the direction of others."

Recorder Tahir Khan told Sean Bradley: "You are the youngest, but the most heavily involved. You repeatedly committed offences of a serious nature."

Bradley admitted four separate charges of possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply, and one of simple possession at earlier hearings.

The court heard how £2,500 of cocaine was found behind a sofa in one raid, and in another, a samurai sword and £1,000 of drugs were seized.

Mr Herrmann said Bradley was in the grip of an addiction, fell into debt with his dealer, and agreed to sell for him to pay off the money.

Matthew Collins, for Dennis, described him as "a Joey" and said: "He was used by the others - a scruffy individual who could be relied upon to do chores."

Rod Hunt, for Williams, and Jim Withyman, for Patrick Bradley, said they had been on remand since August and would be freed immediately.