A DRUG dealer caught with thousands of pounds of drugs after he let his own drugs habit "spiral out of control" has been jailed.

Luke Hitchcox, of Abbott Road, Abingdon, was convicted of possession with intent to supply cocaine at an earlier trial and the 20-year old had already admitted two counts of possession with intent to supply cannabis.

Oxford Crown Court heard at his sentencing today how police first became suspicious after identifying a stolen Audi A5 driven by Hitchcox at Turner Drive, Oxford, on March 20.

Police did not catch the vehicle and instead went to his home address.

When they arrested him they found numerous freezer bags of cannabis in the car and in his bedroom, with a street value totalling about £5,000.

The court heard that, while out on police bail, Hitchcox was stopped again on June 25 driving a white VW Golf. Officers found more drugs in the car and seized 77.9g of cannabis with a value of £2,000 and a further quantity of cocaine valued at £720.

In mitigation, Jonathan Coode said that his client had let a small drugs habit spiral out of control and that lately he had been subject to ‘pressure’ from Birmingham-based gangsters and that they had threatened him with violence to recover an apparent drugs debt.

In one incident, he told the court, a "large, tattooed man" had stopped a car in which he and a number of friends were travelling, before ordering them to strip and threatening them with violence.

Sentencing, Judge Zoe Smith ordered he serve a jail term of four years and five months, made up of eight months for each cannabis charge to run concurrently and a further three years and nine months for dealing cocaine to run consecutively.