Two Manchester Spice dealers jailed

Dale Nish and Connor Hegarty pleaded guilty to drug offences

Two men caught with "thousands of pounds" worth of the former legal high Spice have been jailed.

Dale Nish, of no fixed address and Connor Hegarty admitted at Manchester Crown Court to dealing the drug said to leave users in a "zombie-like" state.

Nish, 31, was sentenced to three and a half years for possession of Spice with intent to supply and cash from dealing.

Hegarty, 20 and of Ancoats, was jailed for two years for three drugs offences relating to Spice and heroin.

The pair were also issued with four-year criminal behaviour orders, banning them from Manchester city centre when they are released.

'Target dealers'

Police said they were arrested in the China Town area of the city, on 10 August last year, with a bag of Spice with an estimated street value of £2,000.

Both were bailed, but on the following day Hegarty, of Old Mill Street, was captured on CCTV taking part in suspected drug deals in Piccadilly Gardens.

Officers later found him in possession of ten wraps of Spice and he later admitted supplying Class A drugs in Miles Platting.

On 13 May, Nish was found in the Northern Quarter with a bag containing a "large amount" of the substance and cash, said police.

Con Leon Cawley-Bowyer, of Greater Manchester Police, said their sentences demonstrate "how committed we are to tackling the issue of Spice".

He said the force will "continue to target those in particular who choose to deal it in the city centre" and "if you are caught dealing Spice... you could end up behind bars."

A blanket ban on so-called legal highs now known as psychoactive substances came into force in the UK last May.