A REPEAT Carlisle drugs offender who was caught with heroin and cocaine worth £27,5000 has been jailed.

The class A drugs – the cocaine being 77 per cent pure - were found inside a van which Kevin Dodd was driving along a residential street in the city on January 27 last year, the city’s crown court heard.

Police officers also found that the defendant was carrying £380 cash while a further stash of more than £3,000 was found at the defendant’s home.

At an earlier court hearing, 39-year-old Dodd, of Cant Crescent, Upperby – who has previous similar offending on his record – had pleaded guilty to four offences.

They were possessing the two class A drugs with intent to supply; possessing criminal property – namely £3,420 in cash; and possessing a knife in a public place without lawful authority.

As he passed sentence, Judge Nicholas Barker outlined how the defendant was driving a transit van in Lund Crescent, Currock, Carlisle, when police had cause to stop him and search the vehicle.

Inside they found a 350g block of heroin, with a street value of £17,500 and 124g block of cocaine, worth £10,000. “Three separate phones were also recovered from you,” said the judge.

The defendant was carrying the cash. When interviewed, he gave no comment replies. The knife offence involved the defendant carrying a lock-knife in Manor Road, Carlisle.

The judge noted that the defendant has an “extensive criminal record”, with three similar drugs offences, including the most recent one in 2015 for which Dodd was given a 77 month jail term.

He also also had a previous knife offence on his record, though that was in 2003.

While Dodd did not sit at the head of the criminal chain in the drugs supply operation, he had neveretheless played a significant role.

“You are no stooge; you knew what you were doing as you have been in this position before,” noted the judge.  “You were aware of the risks that this entailed.  You also had a significant amount of cash recovered from your home.

“There is no doubt that you fall to be dealt with for [playing] a significant role; you had an awareness of the scale and the extent of the operation.”

The judge also noted Dodd’s mitigation, which included the defendant’s willingness and determination to address his offending behaviour and his drug addiction.

He told a probation officer that he had returned to drug dealing in order to pay off a drugs debt he had accrued, though how much was not specified.

“I recognise that there is a degree of remorse demonstrated by your,” the judge told Dodd. This extended to the defendant finding himself back in court for drugs offending and his recognition of the impact generally on society of his offending.

In total, the defendant was given six years and one month in jail.

The judge ordered that the defendant should be deprived of the phones he had and the £3,420 in cash that police recovered. Three months of the sentence was for the knife offence, the judge having noted that the length of time since his last similar offence constituted exceptional circumstances.