A HEROIN dealer is starting a three-year jail sentence after pleading guilty to supplying the drug.

Patrick Hamilton, 38, previously of Sycamore Place, New Earswick, York pleaded guilty to supplying heroin on two occasions, on July 16 and July 18 last year. He also admitted possessing 6.14 grams of the drug with intent to supply.

York Crown Court heard yesterday that Hamilton had been living at a flat in Paston Walk in the Bishopthorpe Road area of York and was under police observation.

On July 16, officers saw two men go to the flat, one of whom was handed a small package. When police arrested him later they found the package contained heroin with a value of between £15 and £20.

Two days later, police saw a man approach Hamilton in Bishopthorpe Road. The man was given two packages, which again contained heroin.

Hamilton was arrested, and his mobile phone found to contain messages believed to relate to drug dealing. He was interviewed and bailed on July 21, but the next day went to a car park at York Racecourse.

Seconds after he arrived, a 4X4 car pulled up and a package was handed to Hamilton from the front window. He was arrested, and found to have 18 bags of heroin, containing a total of 6.14 grams with a street value of about £300.

When police raided the Paston Walk flat they found a scalpel and a spoon with burn marks on it.

Mitigating, Taryn Turner said Hamilton was a long-term heroin addict, and that he and others had got together to buy the drug in bulk. She described him as a low-level street dealer.

He was determined to stay off the drug and return to work when he was released.

Judge Stephen Ashurst jailed Hamilton for three years for each of the three offences, to run concurrently, minus the 174 days he had spent on remand. He ordered that the drugs be destroyed, and that £470 found on Hamilton, believed to be the proceeds of crime, be put towards prosecution costs.