Dealer jailed after police raid

7:00pm Tuesday 7th October 2008

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A DRUG dealer has been jailed after a police raid uncovered cocaine and thousands of pounds in cash stashed in his home.

Drugs officers discovered almost an ounce of the class A drug when they searched the house Lee Normanton, 32, shared with his girlfriend.

His heroin addict lover Sarah Ali, 23, was found with cocaine stashed in her underwear.

She also had more than 1,000 diazepam tablets on her.

Normanton was jailed for three and a half years after pleading guilty to possessing cocaine with intent to supply.

Teesside Crown Court heard he became a dealer after he was stabbed and lost his job as an asbestos remover.

Normanton and Ali were in bed when police arrived at the house in Stephen Street, Hartlepool, on October 22 last year.

Ali was found holding 26.9 grams of cocaine with more hidden inside her bra, belonging to Normanton, and more than 1,300 diazepam tablets were recovered from the house.

Police also discovered scales, £2,318 in cash, mobile phones and a savings book in Ali's name.

Colin Harvey, mitigating for Normanton, said he had fallen into drugs after an abusive childhood.

He said: "He lost his job which he could not do because of his injuries, fell into depression and drifted back into the drugs world."

Judge Peter Armstrong told him: "It is clear you have not had a very good start in life at all.

"You have been brought down by your involvement with drugs."

David Lamb, mitigating for Ali, who pleaded guilty to possessing class C drugs with intent, said she took diazepam to beat a heroin addiction.

She was given an 18-month community supervision order with nine months drug rehabilitation.