A DRUG dealer who turned to the illicit trade to fund his father’s funeral has been jailed.

Shaun Borwell was caught selling deals of cocaine out of his car when CCTV operators spotted suspicious activity near Redcar High Street in the early hours of June 29 this year.

When officers pulled him over in his Vauxhall Astra, the 22-year-old admitted selling the drug for more than two months and told them they would find further evidence on his mobile phone and in his home.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the betting shop worker felt he had to ‘step up’ to raise the money to pay for the funeral after his father killed himself after being released from a mental health unit in March.

Borwell pleaded guilty to supplying a Class A drug with intent and money laundering after he was caught with six bags of cocaine and £1,340 in cash in his car.

A further search of his home on Cropton Close, Redcar, led to officers discovering 200 plastic bags, some containing white powder, digital scales and a safe containing a plastic with traces of Cocaine inside.

Ansab Shan, prosecuting, told the court that Cleveland Police did not carry out any analysis of Borwell’s iPhone and accepted that he had been dealing for two months.

The court heard that Borwell gave a full and frank confession when he was arrested.

In mitigation, Borwell’s barrister John Nixon called on the judge to show leniency on his client after the tragic circumstances surrounding his father’s death.

“He (Borwell) had been using cocaine for recreational purposes, he was vulnerable to addictive behaviour and from time to time would drink to excess,” he said.

“When this happened, he mentally collapsed – he did it to fund his father’s funeral."

The court heard this was Borwell's first criminal conviction.

Judge Howard Crowson said Borwell’s decision to start selling cocaine was ‘irrational’ reaction to his father’s death but that was no excuse for taking up drug dealing.

Sentencing him to two years and four months for selling cocaine, the judge said: “This comes against a difficult background, you lost your father and that led to a great deal of stress which you decided to take upon your shoulders.

“It was an irrational decision to sell cocaine as you yourself were a cocaine user. You were not dealing for the first time that day but had been dealing for around two months.”

He was given a concurrent four-month sentence for concealing the money from drug dealing while an order was made to confiscate the £1,340 seized from Borwell. He was also ordered to pay a £149 victim surcharge.