A DRUG dealer has been jailed for peddling heroin and crack cocaine on the streets of Kidderminster.

Don Hoo-Lawson admitted drug dealing in Kidderminster when he appeared at Worcester Crown Court on Wednesday.

The 25-year-old of Robin Court, Kidderminster, supplied the class A drugs between July 28 and August 24 last year.

He further admitted possession of criminal property (£1,076), the proceeds of drug dealing.

Paul Whitfield, prosecuting, said police carried out a covert operation, photographing the defendant dealing class A drugs in the town centre.

On August 23 Hoo-Lawson was arrested with £285 worth of drugs including seven packages of heroin (818mg) and 21 deals of crack cocaine (2.02g) with a 95 per cent purity.

They also found £76 in criminal cash, added to the £1,000 they seized from him on the M42 on a previous occasion.

Mobile phones were also seized which showed an advert had been sent out to 72 people indicating he was in town and had drugs available.

The offences were committed while Hoo-Lawson was on licence and he was recalled to prison for five months.

The defendant has 12 convictions for 26 offences committed between 2007 and 2014.

Sabhia Pathan, defending, said Hoo-Lawson would have pleaded guilty sooner but could not do so because the charges as drafted were 'shambolic'.

Miss Pathan said her client had moved to Kidderminster from London to live with his grandmother for 'a fresh start', managing to find himself a traineeship in groundwork which he completed. She said he had used his share of the profits from dealing drugs to cover his rent arrears and fulfil his obligations to his daughter.

In total she said Hoo-Lawson sold £2,500 of drugs but not all of the benefit from their sale was his.

In interview the defendant admitted he had been dealing for a little over two months.

She said of his dealing: "This was an act of clear desperation. He asks that the sentence gives him a degree of hope."

Judge Robert Juckes QC said after reading a 'considered letter' from the defendant that he was 'obviously articulate'.

He said: "It's unfortunate and sad in one sense to see you standing where you are, facing an inevitable custodial sentence.

"You appreciate that the reason the courts always impose immediate custodial sentences for dealing class A drugs is because of the harm the drugs themselves do.

"Over a period of two months you dealt on a continuous basis, making significant sums of money."

Judge Juckes jailed him for three years.