A DRUG dealer who was caught with cocaine with a street value of up to has avoided being sent straight to prison.

Neil Dodsworth was caught up in a major police operation targeting drug dealers around the North East in April 2016.

The 28-year-old was spotted leaving his Shildon home on his motorbike before heading to Sherburn Hill to pick up two packages of the Class A drug.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the drug pick-up was closely monitored by police and he was arrested when he pulled up in a layby back in his home town.

Matthew Bean, prosecuting, said: "He was seen leaving his home in Shildon, he drove his motorbike out to Sherburn Hill and just after 7pm he was seen to leave the main road and enter track which led to a water tower, he then picked up a couple of packets of cocaine.

"He was seen to exit the track and seen to drive off to Shildon, just after 8pm he was arrested after pulling into a layby – he also had two mobile phones and cash on him."

Mr Bean said the cocaine costing more than £8,000 was 83 per cent pure and worth up to £35,000 in street deals.

He said the defendant refused to answer questions when he was arrested but pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply in January last year.

David Lamb, representing Dodsworth, told the court that he played a minor role in the drug supply network and another man at the same level was given a suspended sentence.

In January, Liam Bate was sentenced after he was caught with a quarter of a kilo of 98 per cent pure cocaine, worth an estimated £75,000 by the time it had been ‘cut’ for distribution.

The 30-year-old was stopped by police on the A19 after visiting the Haswell Plough area of County Durham to pick up the Class A drug.

The court heard how Bate was arrested in December 2015 but had to wait two years before being charged and a further two years while trials of his co-accused were completed.

Bate, of Tenby Walk, Throston, Hartlepool, was sentenced to two years in custody suspended for two years and ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work.

As a result, Judge Jonathan Carroll said his 'hands were tied' about the length of sentence he could pass for Dodsworth.

"I have to bear in mind the passage of time between to the commission of this offence and the sentencing today and I also have to have regard to the case of Liam Bate," he said.

"Bate was in a slightly more serious position than you and had a slightly larger quantity of drugs at the time he was arrested.

"He received two years, suspended for two years with 200 hours of unpaid work. I can't go above what he got but there is nothing preventing me from going below what he got."

He warned Dodsworth that if he committed any further offences he would not hesitate to jail him.