A drug dealer caught selling cocaine in a supermarket car park has been jailed.
Luke Dixon had been selling drugs for years when he was caught in the act outside a Co-op in Ashington, Northumberland. A police officer saw the deal and he was arrested.
Now the 30-year-old, who said drugs ruined his life and that he turned to dealing after getting into debt due to his addiction, has been locked up for two years and four months at Newcastle Crown Court.
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It was on October 4 last year that a police officer was in the car park of the shop when he saw two cars park next to each other. A man in one of the vehicles handed something into Dixon's car and he threw a package the other way.
Other officers attended and Dixon's car was searched and the deal of cocaine which he had supplied was found. Dixon admitted he had more cocaine in his trousers before producing a Mentos pot containing 1.18g of the drug. He also had a large amount of cash in his wallet.
When told his home would be searched, he told officers there was more cocaine under the cooker in his kitchen. They later found 18.2g of it, along with more cash and drug dealing paraphernalia. In total, some £1,194 of money was seized, of which he said £250 was gambling winnings.
Dixon said he had been dealing cocaine for four or five years and began doing it to clear debts accrued due to his cocaine addiction.
The 30-year-old, of Avondale Gardens, North Seaton, Ashington, who has four previous convictions but nothing for drugs, pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine with intent to supply and supplying cocaine. He was jailed for two years and four months.
Judge Robert Spragg told him: "You got emotional with the Probation Service, saying drugs had ruined your life and you expressed an understanding about the effect drugs have on the community. Your actions in supplying drugs into your community no doubt affected the lives of many others and it has an effect on crime on your community.
"I would be failing in my public duty if I didn't impose an immediate custodial sentence."
Andrew Walker, defending, said: "This is his first appearance before the crown court. Unfortunately, drugs have been there in his life for some time now and slowly, but most recently, spectacularly, caused his life to unravel.
"At first it was addiction and then what followed was debt, then because of his addictive personality gambling came into the picture as well, then his fateful decision to supplement his income from work - which has now gone - to sell the drug he was consuming. His primary motive was to enable himself to consume more of this pernicious drug.
"His account is the supply of the drug was to a group measured in single figures of friends and associates - people he knew who took the drug.
"He was extremely candid in his police interview, which suggests he is not a particularly sophisticated or hardened drug dealer. He didn't ask for legal advice or make no comment but instead told the police the truth about what happened.
"He has now stopped consuming drugs and character references speak of how he has behaved since and how seriously he is taking his current predicament."
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