A DRUG dealer serving a nine month jail sentence complained he had “lost everything” after a judge rejected his argument to keep a house bequeathed to him by his grandmother in her will.

Martin Dougan claimed a family agreement meant he only had a third share of the house which he said was being held in trust for his two children.

But the Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Simon Bourne-Arton went along with the Crown’s case which was that he was the sole owner of the property in Hawthorn Avenue, Thornaby.

Dougan, 33, previously of Cambridge Square, Middlesbrough, made £223,293 from his part in a major drugs conspiracy which was dismantled as a result of Cleveland Police’s Operation Cobweb and involved drugs being bought and transported from Manchester.

In May last year he was one of 20 members of a gang sentenced after admitting or being convicted of conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

He said about the disputed house: “I have never been told that house is mine. I have always been told it is mine, my sister’s and my brother’s.”

During a Proceeds of Crime hearing at Teesside Crown Court, he said he had sold a Volkswagen Golf car for £3,000 so it could be spent on items for his baby.

He also said he “could not remember” what had happened to £20,000 cash also left to him by his grandmother.

Judge Bourne-Arton said the house could be included in £56,009 worth of realisable assets Dougan had. It will have to be paid within three months or Dougan will face a further 18 months in jail.

Members of Dougan’s family, including his mother, who gave evidence in the hearing, and his brother shouted insults at the judge as they left court.

As he was taken down to resume his sentence, Dougan said: “I have lost everything, my family, my kids and now you have taken my house.”