A DRUG dealer caught with more than £2,500 worth of cannabis as he travelled through Cumbria has been jailed for almost four years.

Police stopped Thomas Lovett, 34, near Keswick in October. More than a quarter of a kilo of skunk cannabis was discovered in his vehicle.

Lovett was bailed by officers. But he was then arrested again five months later after a haul of heroin was found at his home.

He later entered guilty pleas to the possession of both cannabis and heroin with intent to supply.

He has now been sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court by Judge Peter Davies QC.

Prosecutor Gerard Rogerson told the court that having been detained for cannabis possession, Lovett offered an unusual explanation to police.

He claimed to have been in Liverpool and watched as a package was discarded in a litter bin during an apparent drug deal between two other men

Curiosity prompted him to investigate after the pair had left. And he said that having found the illegal cannabis stash he decided to keep it.

When police went to his house on March 22, they found more than £2,000 worth of heroin.

When interviewed about that offence he made no comment.

Police seized a phone from Lovett and found evidence to suggest the supply of illegal substances. Other messages in the handset hinted at the collection of drug debts, and threats were also issued.

Brendan Burke, defending, said Lovett's guilty pleas were his "best mitigation".

"He is not instructing me to look for hopeless probation - or other - reports," said Mr Burke.

"He acknowledges what the type of sentence is going to be."

The court heard that while threats had been issued from Lovett's phone, he also received them from others.

Judge Hughes handed down a prison term of three years and nine months.

The judge was told Lovett, of Yeowartville, Workington, had a "long history" of involvement in drugs.

"Last October you were intercepted on the way back from Liverpool with over £2,500 worth of skunk cannabis.

"I have no doubt at all it was destined for the West Cumbria coast where you were going to distribute it," said Judge Hughes.