A mother and son who ran a heroin and crack cocaine street supply operation have been jailed for a total of five years.

Nathan Walker and Lisia Dwyer were arrested after police raided their home on Spring Hill Road in Accrington and found the class A drugs, ‘tick lists’, scales and a mobile phone.

Burnley Crown Court heard how a drugs dog found the heroin in a plastic tube hidden down the side of cushions on a settee which contained enough for more than 50 £10 street deals.

Walker, 25, and Dwyer, 43, both pleaded guilty to possessing heroin with intent to supply and being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine.

Walker, who has 30 previous convictions for 54 offences and is in breach of a suspended sentence order, was jailed for 32 months.

His mother, who has 26 convictions for 49 previous offences, was jailed for 28 months.

Stephen Parker, prosecuting, told the court how police executed a warrant at their house on July 29 last year and Walker was detained in a back alley after trying to flee.

The court heard how 7.73g of heroin was found in the plastic tube including 20 bags containing individual £10 deals.

Mr Parker said the remaining 4.64g was enough to make a further 31 £10 street deals.

The court heard how scales were found in both the living room and a bedroom and tested positive for cocaine and heroin.

Mr Parker said: “In the living room were also found a number of pieces of paper commonly known as ‘tick lists’ and are evidence of the defendants dealing in both heroin and crack cocaine.”

The court heard how written on the tick lists were the words ‘14 by B equals 140’ - a reference to the slang heroin term ‘brown’ and other calculations including ‘12 by 20 equals 240’ and ‘15 by 10 equals 150’ referring to crack cocaine.

Mr Parker said there were also notes suggesting one of the defendants was being ‘paid a wage’ to bag up heroin.

An analysis of the phone revealed the operation had been going on for around two weeks.

Mr Parker said: “The view of the drugs officer is that the users of the phone were involved in supplying street levels of both heroin and crack cocaine in deals of £10 or £20.

“In his opinion the users of that phone were dealing on behalf of others further up the supply chain.”

Judge Ian Leeming QC described the pair’s operation as ‘organised street dealing’.

Kathryn Johnson, defending Walker, said he is ‘very disappointed to have found himself back in custody’.

She told the court: “This is very much bottom end street dealing and low level.

“Perhaps the most important factor of mitigation which will have a significant effect on the length of sentence is his guilty plea.

“He had a very difficult start in life. It’s perhaps of no surprise the path he ended up on was one of drugs and acquisitive crime to fund that drug habit.

“He is very much at a crossroads in his life.

“The defendant is determined for his children not to end up as he has and that is his motivation.”

Darren Lee-Smith, defending Dwyer, said she is ‘disgusted and embarrassed to get in such a mess’.

He said: “She has shown a good understanding of the impact drugs and drug dealing has upon society in that it destroys families and ruins people’s lives, including hers.

“It has negatively impacted on her son’s lifestyle. She fully accepts responsibility for her actions.”