ON the face of it, Ashley Robinson was a respectable man devoted to his family.

But, York Crown Court was told, few knew that the 35-year-old father was gripped by heroin addiction and, in order to feed his desperate need for the drug, made train trips from Malton to Manchester every day for three weeks to buy supplies.

Yesterday, Robinson, of Bower Walk, Norton, North Yorkshire, was jailed for three years after admitting possessing and supplying heroin in order to pay for his drug habit.

Judge Paul Hoffman said Robinson, who asked for a further 17 offences of supplying heroin to be taken into account, had been uncommonly frank by providing police with a large amount of evidence against himself.

But he said: "You were supplying an ounce a day over a three-week period and that is on any view a considerable amount."

Richard Bloomfield, prosecuting, said Robinson was stopped on Malton railway station, on December 6, for the purpose of a drugs search. He informed police he had some in his rucksack and later his Norton home was searched.

There, officers found drugs paraphenalia and the accused admitted buying an ounce of heroin for £775, which he sold on after keeping what he needed.

Bryan Cox, for Robinson, said he had been in the grip of heroin since his teenage years. He was a registered addict, but few knew it. He was not the typical dealer, but led a quiet, respectable life and held down a job at which he worked hard.

Robinson, whose family was in court to support him, now recognised that help and support in custody would lead to him overcoming his addiction.