A HEROIN user helped to supply an undercover police officer with the drug in low-level street transactions.

Sean Griffin thought he was assisting a fellow addict, enabling him to gain access to heroin, but in doing so, he helped to land himself with a prison sentence of two years and five months.

Durham Crown Court heard as part of Operation Velvet, targeting street level heroin dealing in Horden, the officer, using the name, ‘Danny’, backed by a colleague, posing as his girlfriend, ‘Kelly’, got into conversation with the defendant.

He told them he was ‘Sean Griff’ and supplied tobacco, but would be able to get hold of heroin.

Griffin went to an address elsewhere in the village and returned with two wraps of heroin, which he sold to ‘Danny’ for £10 each.

Peter Sabiston, prosecuting, said before they left, Griffin gave them his phone number if they wanted more heroin.

Similar deals were done for either one or two wraps of heroin over the following fortnight, in April and May.

Griffin’s home, in Murray Street, was among those searched during police raids in Horden on August 1, when a single wrap of heroin was recovered, but no stash of the drug was found.

“He was supplying to demand. There’s no suggestion he had significant amounts on him at any one time, so he was a low-level street dealer.,” said Mr Sabiston.

When interviewed Griffin denied having invited the officer to his home and said the deals were usually done at other people’s homes.

He also claimed he had not given the officer his phone number.

But, having admitted eight counts of supplying heroin, one of attempting to supply the class A drug and one of possession of amphetamine sulphate, 42-year-old Griffin conceded he had given the officer his phone number.

Elizabeth Muir, mitigating, told the court the defendant had been addicted to heroin for 16 years, but, since his arrest, has visited a drug outreach centre in a bid to kick the habit.

Judge Jonathan Carroll said in assisting the undercover officer Griffin had taken a step to becoming a dealer, but in passing the 29-month jail term, he said he was sentencing at the very bottom of the scale according to recommended guidelines.