A cocaine dealer who said he was drawn into selling the drug to pay off gambling debts is in prison.
Darren Stewart, 29, made an abrupt U-turn in a VW Golf when he saw police on Overdale Road, Park End , Middlesbrough.
An officer spotted him, became suspicious and followed the evasive lone driver along Ormesby Road and blocked him in on April 8.
Nervous Stewart was caught with £413 worth of cocaine in the vehicle and a baseball bat in the boot, Teesside Crown Court heard on Tuesday.
Prosecutor Rachel Masters said his phone carried incriminating messages about drug dealing saying any chance of dropping one off and you got another one kid.
Stewart confessed he had been dealing cocaine to work off a gambling debt.
He said he was initial…
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