A DRUG "custodian" has been jailed for four-and-a-half years after police twice caught him red-handed with the illegal chemicals.

Judge John Bullimore warned that people who guarded drugs for others would be punished in the same way as dealers, because they were a vital part of the underground supply network.

He was dealing with David James Flintham, 25, of Huntington Road, York, who admitted several charges of possessing drugs with intent to supply to others or for his own use.

He was jailed for four-and-a-half years, including six months re-sentencing on offences for which he had received a community punishment order of 200 hours.

After hearing that Flintham could have made £6,600 out of the drugs, the judge also confiscated £905 in cash that the police found in his possession.

The judge told York Crown Court that police found amphetamine, cannabis and Ecstasy tablets when they raided Flintham's home on January 5.

The amphetamine and some of the cannabis was for his own use, but some of the Class C drug and the 275 tablets of Ecstasy were not.

Two months later, police again raided Flintham's home and this time they found more than 400g of amphetamine and nearly 2,000 Ecstasy tablets, as well as a small quantity of cannabis for his own use.

Flintham said he was looking after the amphetamine and Ecstasy for another person. The judge read statements from Flintham's father and girlfriend supporting his claim to be a custodian.

But Judge Bullimore said custodians were as guilty as dealers.

"You are part of the chain," he told Flintham. "If people are leaving this stuff with you, it is because they feel you are safe and they can leave their drugs left in a place where it is unlikely they will be found and confiscated. You are a necessary part of what is going on. There is no real mitigation."

After the hearing, Det Con Mark Jackson, of York CID, said: "No matter what part you play in handling drugs, you can expect to go to prison."

Updated: 10:27 Tuesday, August 16, 2005