AN Iraqi drug dealer who sold crack cocaine and heroin was jailed for four years yesterday, and recommended for deportation.

The judge at Teesside Crown Court told asylum-seeker Shirzad Yousef, 32, that the supply of crack cocaine on Teesside was a serious problem and the courts had to do everything in their power to stop it.

Two police officers stopped Yousef's black Vauxhall Corsa car in Diamond Road, Thornaby, on July 20. They found crack cocaine and heroin hidden inside a man's sock and more than £6,000.

Anthony Dunne, prosecuting, said the drugs were worth £3,000, and another £1,000 in cash was found hidden in a boiler cupboard at his home, where police also arrested his girlfriend, Michelle Fox, 25.

Fox told police that the drugs were for her personal use, and Yousef claimed that the cash came from his business, dealing in second-hand cars.

Richard Bennett, mitigating for Youseff, asked the judge not to recommend deportation for the Iraqi Kurd, whose father and neighbour's family were murdered by Saddam Hussein's troops in front of him, when he was 15.

Mr Bennett said that Yousef had worked in a pizza shop and a factory. He became addicted to drugs and he began warehousing and supplying drugs to pay off drug debts.

Brian Russell, mitigating for Fox, said that she was terrified by the prospect of being sent to prison.

He added that she had suffered through her addiction to various Class A drugs, particularly heroin, and after meeting Yousef, she had become sucked into a serious situation.

Judge Brian Forster told the pair: "Supplying crack cocaine in this area is regarded as a serious problem and the courts have to do everything in their power to deter such behaviour."

Yousef, of Teesdale Terrace, Thornaby, was jailed for four years and recommended for deportation, after he pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply, and two of possessing criminal property.

Fox, of Stanbrook Gardens, Middlesbrough, was jailed for two years. She denied the four charges, but she was found guilty after a trial last month. She admitted a separate charge of assault causing actual bodily harm, from October 19.