A MOTHER sobbed in the public gallery of a court as she saw her son jailed for selling cannabis to his friends and possessing mephedrone.

Daniel McConnell was jailed for nine months after Judge Peter Fox rejected a plea for mercy from the 25year-old's barrister.

Paul Abrahams, mitigating, said McConnell started taking drugs after his parents divorced, and suffered with obsessive compulsive disorder.

He told Teesside Crown Court that his client had drastically reduced his intake of illegal substances and has sought help for his problems.

He was caught with the drugs a month after he was fined by magistrates for possessing cannabis and diazepam. A report by a probation officer suggested imposing a suspended jail sentence with supervision for the latest offences.

Judge Fox told him: "If I thought that would stop you and discourage others, I would entertain it, but I have no confidence in either respect.

"I take into account the quantity, which is by no means the largest, but I do take the view that to a significant extent you have been profiteering. It is a pity that a year ago you did not take on board the warning shot upon your conviction for simple possession, but there we are."

McConnell, of Moorcock Close, Eston, Middlesbrough, admitted possessing Class B drugs, and possessing Class B drugs with intent to supply.

The court heard that £571 worth of cannabis and £322 of what is commonly knowns as M-Cat was found during a search of his home.

He told police he bought the powder when it was still legal last year and used it himself, and said the cannabis belonged to him and others.