A DRUG dealer caught with £2,000 worth of cannabis has been given a suspended sentence.

Haroon Hussain was also found with £22,000 in cash – half of which was seized by police as criminal property – following a police raid in August 2017.

The 33-year-old, of Cambridge Road, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis with intent to supply, possession of cannabis and possession of the proceeds of crime, following the search of his home and a rental property on Hardwick Avenue.

Teesside Crown Court heard how Hussain had turned his life around since his arrest more than four years ago and was no longer a cannabis user himself.

Shada Mellor, in mitigation, said a short spell in prison for another offence had been the 'kick up the backside' which he needed.

Recorder Martin Rose sentenced the defendant to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years.

He said: "The searches took place four and a half years ago and I have to observe that you have been subject to other sentences, most recently a custodial sentence, since those offences were uncovered, has ultimately been to your advantage."

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