A YOUNG father trying to sneak drugs into a music festival to sell to his friends has narrowly avoided being sent to prison.

Macaulley Mcginn was found in possession of between £220 and £440 worth of ecstasy by a sniffer dog at BeachJam in Redcar last year.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the 24-year-old admitted possessing the drug with the intent of supplying following his arrest on August 3 last year.

Chris Baker, prosecuting, said he admitted he had got the ecstasy 'on tick', with the intention of paying for it after his friends paid him.

Mcginn, of Harpenden Walk, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply class A.

In mitigation, Duncan Mcreddie told the court that Mcginn had no previous convictions and was working hard to provide for his young family.

He said the defendant, who was supported by both his parents, had a young child and a partner at home.

Mr McReddie told the court how another person arrested for drug dealer at the festival, who had no connection with his client, had been given a suspended sentence and he urged the judge to pass a similar one for McGinn.

Judge Howard Crowson told Mcginn he was going to hand him a nine-month sentence, suspended for 18 months.

He said: "Well you're not going to prison, which is what you have been frightened about I know.

"You're a young man, with a young family, you're capable of keeping out of trouble."

McGinn was ordered to carry out 120 hours unpaid work.