A DRUG dealer who was caught at a flat in Ulverston has been jailed for 29 months.

Police attended the address in Swan Street on July 30 2019 after a report a woman had been assaulted.

When they arrived at the property they found Pascoe Gilheaney, 18, and another man, along with a local drug user who was known to the police.

Gilheaney tried to escape through a first floor window but was stopped by the police.

He and the other man gave false names and dates of birth but were identified after spending almost 24 hours in police custody.

While the men were at the police station, officers searched the flat and found heroin and cannabis hidden in a mobile phone box in a drawer in a coffee table.

They also found paraphernalia including digital scales and kinder eggs.

Gilheaney had £300 in cash and a mobile phone matching the box the drugs were hidden in.

He was identified when officers searched through paperwork at the flat and matched his face to his Facebook profile picture.

Further investigations led police to Asda in Barrow where Gilheaney had bought the mobile phone two days earlier.

Analysis of the phone revealed bulk text messages sent out to users advertising drugs for sale and high volumes of very short phone calls lasting only a matter of seconds.

A total of 21 wraps of heroin and 36 wraps of cannabis were seized from the flat.

Gilheaney, of Hope Street, Rossendale, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply class A and B drugs and appeared at Preston Crown Court to be sentenced.

The court heard he had an unstable upbringing and had educational difficulties. He agreed to sell drugs in Ulverston after becoming addicted to crack cocaine and getting into debt with dealers.

Judge David Potter, sentencing, said: “You yourself had become addicted to crack and had become indebted to dealers. As a means to discharge that debt you were installed to supply the drugs and take the money - although I accept you did not have a commercial interest yourself, other than to discharge the debt and the threats to your family by becoming addicted to drugs.

“You are 18 years old and these offences are aggravated by your previous convictions for possessing drugs, although you have none for supply.”

At the time of the offences, Gilheaney was subject to a conditional discharge for possession of cocaine.

Judge Potter sentenced him to 28 months in a Young Offenders Institution for possession with intent to supply heroin, and 12 months concurrent for possession with intent to supply cannabis. He added a further month for breach of the conditional discharge.