Moped rider had 13 crack cocaine wraps in Kinder eggs in Hartlepool

Jack Wright, 29, was stopped by police after they saw a suspected deal happen in the middle of the day in the Blakelock Gardens area of town.

When he was searched last June he was found to have 13 deals of crack cocaine worth about £178 in two Kinder eggs.

A mobile phone containing messages about drugs and £125 cash were also seized.

Chris Baker, prosecuting at Teesside Crown Court, said: “The messages indicated that the user of the phone was open for business and that deals were done all day.”

Wright told police he had not been doing it very long and refused to say who he was working for.

He admitted possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply and had no previous convictions.

Kelleigh Lodge, mitigating, said Wright was “relieved” to have been arrested and he had distanced himself from the people he was involved with.

She said: “He’s not an individual who has a history of committing offences of this nature.

"This offending was out of character for him and he is genuinely sorry for that.”

The judge, Recorder Georgina Nolan, said the offence crossed the line for prison.

But she said she could suspend immediate custody due to his lesser role, lack of convictions and remorse.

Recorder Nolan told Wright, of Bailey Rise, Peterlee: “Dealing in drugs is a very serious offence. It wrecks lives.”

He was given two years in prison, suspended for 18 months, probation and 100 hours of unpaid work.