A DRUG dealing pair who set up a professional heroin and cocaine dealing operation in Darlington have been jailed for more than 11 years.

Kelly Kirwan and Jaad Mitchell would advertise their products to drug addicts from their ‘Best of Both’ business by text message.

Durham Crown Court was told the case was unusual as neither of the pair were users and their enterprise was launched purely to exploit users to make profit.

Addicts would be contacted by mobile phone informing them when products they described as ‘brown’ and ‘white’ were available.

A meeting would be arranged in a public place around the town and a delivery would be made within minutes.

Sentencing them, Judge Christopher Prince said: “You made careful cynical plans to profit from the addiction of others. You adapted a commercial approach to this business.”

They were rumbled after selling to an undercover police officer who posed as a user to buy wraps.

The court heard police bugged their car and heard the pair had suspicions about the undercover officer.

They planned to shut down their operation and re-launch it after cutting ties with their exiting clientele.

They also planned to leave their Darlington operation in the hands of a manager and set up another franchise in Bognor Regis, undercutting existing dealers to steal their customer base.

Judge Prince issued a crown court commendation to the officer for her work gathering evidence against Kirwan, 25, and Mitchell, 22, both of no fixed abode.

He said: “The undercover officer is commended for her conspicuous bravery and acting skills.”

Both admitted two counts of conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine between March and May this year at a previous hearing and were sentenced to five years and three months in jail today. (Thursday, December 4)

Kirwan was given a concurrent two year sentence for a previous charge from last October of possession of heroin and cocaine with intent to supply, which she admitted.

The judge activated a two year suspended sentence previously imposed on Mitchell last June for possession with intent to supply heroin and crack cocaine.

He will serve 12 months on top of the sentence imposed today consecutively.

The judge said: “This was supply on a very significant scale. The police realised that they had stumbled on a supply over and above what they had expected.

“You must have had a clear link to the original source of the drugs.”