A dealer has been jailed after he was caught by police with drugs on him on three separate occasions in just four months.

Adeel Hussain, of Willows Lane, Accrington, was arrested by police three times between February and June this year and each occasion was found to be in possession of drugs a court was told.

Despite being bailed for the offences he carried on his street dealings to pay off debts, Burnley Crown Court heard.

Hussain, 24, pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing cannabis with intent to supply, and one count each of possessing crack cocaine and heroin with intent to supply.

He was jailed for three years and nine months.

Andrew Smith, prosecuting, told the court how Hussain first came into contact with the police on February 10 this year when officers spotted him in a rented car on Victoria Street in Accrington.

When the police saw him he ‘drove away at speed’ before being followed and stopped a few minutes later by officers, the court heard.

Mr Smith said under the driver’s seat they found a bag containing 19 bags of ‘cannabis bush’ and in the back of the car was another bag of cannabis with a total value of £255.

Police also seized around £100 in cash, a ‘debtor list’ and a mobile phone with ‘a number of relevant texts from purchasers’, Mr Smith said.

While on bail for the first offence, police spotted Hussain again in his Vauxhall Corsa on Charter Street in Accrington on April 10.

Searching the car they found a number of unused snap bags in the rear pocket of the front passenger seat before discovering 24 snap bags of cannabis bush under the spare wheel in the boot.

The bags were broken down into £10, £15 and £20 deals totalling £345.

While on bail for the first two offences officers then spotted Hussain again on June 30 in his car around the Accrington area before he stopped and spoke to a ‘scruffy looking man’ through his window, the court heard.

Police later swooped on the car and found Hussain with £110 of crack cocaine and £100 of heroin before telling officers ‘That’s all I have got’.

When interviewed by police he told them the drugs found in February were for his own personal use, admitted to attempting to supply the drugs in April and said he was ‘holding’ the cocaine and heroin for ‘another man’.

The court heard how he became ‘pressured’ after owing money for drugs seized by the police and to pay to release the hire vehicle from the compound.

Zia Chaudhry, defending said it was a ‘tragic case’. He said: “He comes from a family for whom criminal offending is completely alien. He has blotted the copy book.

“He accepts the way he went about addressing his debts was wholly inappropriate and reflects a degree of naivety. He was not a kingpin who made vast amounts of money but a smaller dealer paying the price for those higher up the chain.”

Sentencing, Recorder Simon Medland QC said the drug dealing had ‘ruined his life’.