Dealer lost his cocaine at petrol station

Ian Scott admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply (file photo)

A drug dealer who was caught after losing more than £2,000 worth of cocaine at a petrol station has been given a suspended jail term.

Ian Scott, 62, dropped his stash of 45 wraps at a forecourt in Newcastle on 4 February and twice returned to look for it, the city's crown court heard.

Savvy staff who found the drugs noted his number plate when he came back to ask for them and gave the details to police.

Scott, who admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply, was jailed for two years, suspended for two years, with a four-month 20:00 to 06:00 curfew.

Prosecutor Michael Bunch said a worker was cleaning the forecourt on Denton Road at about 21:00 GMT on 4 February 2022 when she came across a bag containing wraps of white powder.

Ten minutes later Scott turned up to ask if anything had been found, but was told it hadn't.

He returned later and was seen on CCTV searching the area.

Staff passed on the details of his car and the discovery of the drugs to police who spotted and stopped his vehicle crossing Scotswood Bridge at about 02:00.

'Spare a line'

Scott, of Woodhorn Drive in Stakeford, near Ashington in Northumberland, was found to have 15 wraps of cocaine in his jacket pocket and 27 in his car along with £200 cash, the court heard.

A search of his home found a further £715, weighing scales and mobile phones.

Mr Bunch said there were messages going back to the previous May in which people were asking if Scott "could chuck them a 50" or "spare them a line".

The drugs were valued at £4,350 and Mr Bunch said Scott was playing a "significant role" delivering directly to users.

Scott told police he had got into debt over his own £500-a-week habit and was delivering drugs to pay that off.

In mitigation, the court heard Scott had a "long-standing" psychiatric disorder which affected his mental health and this was his first offending after a "lifetime of work".

Recorder Richard Herrmann said Scott had had an "expensive and big habit".

He said Scott knew "the misery" drugs caused to users and wider society, as well as the "evils" of the trade.

But the judge said there were "significant" mitigating circumstances from Scott's personal life which meant the sentence could be suspended.