A DRUGS minder who said that a gang threatened to execute him unless he carried out their orders, has been jailed for four years.

David Swainston, 23, told police he owed £900 to the gang for lost drugs, which they then increased to £3,000, for late payment.

He was driven into the countryside, where he feared he was going to be shot, and they also made threats against his partner and their two-year-old child.

Swainston said that his home was smashed up by men in a BMW car before he was told to mind heroin, said Harry Hadfield, prosecuting.

In desperation, Swainston stole more than £1,000 from his cousin to settle some of the debt, but threw away £500 in notes when chased by police, in Stockton.

Peter Wishlade, mitigating, told Teesside Crown Court that Swainston had indisputably been forced into the circumstances that had brought him to court.

He said: "On one occasion, he was driven into the country and he genuinely believed that he was going to be shot.

"He has been a user for three years and he got himself into debt. I accept the inevitability of a custodial sentence for him."

Mr Wishlade said Swainston had stolen £1,200 from his cousin, who had sent a written confirmation of ownership to the court.

Swainston was riding his mountain bike in Green Lane, Stockton, on May 15, when he rode off on seeing a uniformed policeman. He threw away a plastic bag containing £500 in notes, and when he was caught, another £700 was found in his tracksuit pocket. A further £51 was found when he was searched at the police station.

On June 6, police searched his brother's garden, in Castle Close, Stockton, and recovered heroin worth £13,125, said Mr Hadfield.

A fortnight later, Swainston was seen in a red Volkswagen car with two other men, near a children's nursery, in Redhill Road, Stockton. He was allowed to leave, but later two half-ounce bags of heroin were found in the car.

A search of his home uncovered a matching block of heroin, worth up to £20,000, hidden underneath a television.

Swainston surrendered to the police the next day and he said that he was minding the heroin.

Swainston, of Riverhead Avenue, Stockton, who had been in custody since June 20, was jailed for four years after he pleaded guilty to possession of criminal property - the £1,200 cash on May 15 - and also to being concerned in the supply of a Class A drug.