A DRUG dealer caught with high-purity cocaine and £5,000 in cash was last night starting a two-and-a-half year sentence behind bars.

Derry Sargent was pulled over by police driving a friend's car and carrying out "reckless manoeuvres" on the A19, a court heard.

Officers seized a black mobile phone and ipad and discovered the drugs – worth between £5,120 and £8,760 – during a search of his home.

Sargent, of Ayresome Park Road, Middlesbrough, admitted a charge of possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply in August 2015.

Kelleigh Lodge, mitigating, said Sargent said the money he had in the his friend's Audi A3 was savings he had made to buy a vehicle.

"He was supplying to fund his own habit," Miss Lodge told Judge Sean Morris.

"He has been a cocaine addict since the age of 15.

"Since he was arrested, it has been a a massive wake-up call for him and he has not consumed any cocaine since that date."

Judge Sean Morris, sitting at Teesside Crown Court, was handed two references, and a certificate showing Sargent had raised money in 2015 for a multiple sclerosis charity.

Judge Morris told him: "You have got convictions for unpleasant public order offences, but you have never been in trouble for drug offences before, but you jumped in at the deep end.

"The next time you get caught dealing Class A drugs, the sentence is going to be about five-and-a-half years."