A STOURBRIDGE heroin dealer addicted to drugs since he was a schoolboy is beginning a stretch behind bars.

At Wolverhampton Crown Court, Gary Hart, aged 26, was jailed for three years and nine months after he was convicted on what Recorder Jason MacAdam said was "overwhelming" evidence.

Hart, who had been a junkie since the age of 13, had been the driver for an accomplice in a car that contained drug dealing paraphernalia including scales, cling film and blades for cutting down the heroin.

The Recorder told Hart, who denied possessing heroin with intent to supply: “You put forward a story that was clearly rejected by the jury. I have no doubts there is some good in you but, for some reason, you have lost your way.

"I am sure a sale would have taken place but for the intervention of police officers.”

The Recorder said he knew his accomplice - sent to prison at an earlier hearing for his part in the offence - was a drug dealer and added: "You were a willing driver for him. You were willing to drive for a man you knew peddled in drugs."

He jailed Hart, of Penfields Road, for 42 months and said he would have to serve an additional three months because the offence constituted the breach of a suspended prison sentence imposed for burglary.

Nicholas Smith, for Hart who continued to deny the offence, said his client had been a drug addict since he was at school but he felt he was now overcoming his problem.

Mr Smith added: “He wants to get off drugs and lead a proper life."

The court was told Hart had gained a string of qualifications in recent months to achieve his dream of becoming an electrician.

Mr Smith concluded: "He has been taking great steps to better himself in life and, on his release from custody, he is hoping to secure employment."