TWO drug dealers who used a York guesthouse as their base for selling heroin and crack cocaine have been jailed.

When police confronted Anthony Adu, 18, and Ryan Kennimouth, 22, at the guesthouse in The Groves area, they discovered a large amount of cash and drugs.

Adu, who was staying under a false name, was carrying 96 wraps of drugs worth £2,000 and £2,500 in cash. There were also debtor lists and other drug paraphernalia in his room.

Kennimouth, who claimed to have met Adu by chance after arriving in the city, was found carrying 11 wraps of heroin.

Recorder Geoffrey Marson QC told them: "This is a filthy and degrading trade." He jailed Adu for 18 months and Kennimouth for 15 months.

He said the short sentence for Adu was because he was only 17 at the time of his arrest.

"In normal circumstances, the sentence would have been two-and-a-half years to three years, but I have to deal with Adu as a 17-year-old," the judge said.

Adu, admitted possessing heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply others and two failures to attend court.

The £2,500 cash was confiscated as criminal money.

Kennimouth, admitted possessing heroin and crack cocaine for his own use and with intention to supply it to his aunt.

The judge said he had cut Kennimouth's sentence from 30 months because Adu only got 18 months.

Kennimouth's barrister, Frances Hertzog, said Kennimouth had only arrived in York a couple of days before the raid and had not known Adu beforehand. They met up by chance. Kennimouth suffered from depression.

Geraldine Kelly, prosecuting, said police found the two Liverpudlians on separate beds in a guesthouse on October 10.

As they arrived, Adu threw a plastic bag containing 85 wraps of crack cocaine worth between £1,700 and £2,125 out of the window.

It also contained £2,300 in cash and police found an extra £200 under Adu's pillow. The room had drug debtor lists and other drug dealing paraphernalia.

Adu claimed the money was saved up from social security benefits, and that he was on the run from someone in Liverpool. His barrister, Amiot Vollenweider, said he was remorseful.

Police found 11 wraps of heroin on Kennimouth owned jointly by the pair and two wraps of crack cocaine.

Updated: 10:33 Monday, May 23, 2005