A MAN described as "a beleaguered drug abuser for more than a decade" was jailed after being caught with more than £500 worth of crack cocaine.

Colin Fryett was stopped by police after they saw him make an early-morning exchange with a man in a car in Thorndyke Avenue, Middlesbrough, on July 15.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the 29-year-old struggled with officers, but they found he had 26 'rocks' of the Class A drug when they searched him.

Fryett denied being a dealer, said he had just bought the crack along with some heroin for £150, and claimed £40 he had on him was from his benefits.

His barrister, Nigel Soppitt, told Judge Peter Armstrong: "He's been a beleaguered drug abuser for more than a decade, and his previous offending bears that out.

"In recent years he has just served prison sentence after prison sentence, and he tells me he has very few links to society because of past problems."

Fryett, of Premier Road, Middlesbrough, admitted a charge of possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply, and was locked up for two-and-a-half years.

Judge Armstrong told him: "You are not a kid any more, but you don't want to be spending most of the rest of your life in prison. It's a wretched drug.

"The court knows how difficult it is to get out of that situation if you are addicted to crack cocaine. You have already racked up quite a record."

The court heard how Fryett has 60 crimes on his rap sheet, and the judge told him: "You have had some hefty sentences already, but this is your first for drugs."

Mr Soppitt said: "He had run up some debt, and it is the old tale that his dealer said 'you can sell some drugs on my behalf, and you can clear that debt'.

"He lived day-by-day simply to use drugs. He is effectively the lowest level - someone who performs a limited function, under direction from above."