A TEENAGER, said to be a drugs errand boy for his elder brother, was jailed for three and a half years yesterday.

Kirk Price, 18, pleaded guilty at York Crown Court to being in possession of 50 Ecstasy tablets with intent to supply and was told by Recorder Roger Keen QC it did not matter at whose behest he was acting - prison was inevitable.

Prosecutor David Bradshaw said on September 7 the accused, of The Parade, Whitby, North Yorkshire, took a taxi from Whitby to Ormesby Bank, near Middlesbrough.

During the journey, he was heard by the driver to say to someone on his mobile, "I want 50".

Mr Bradshaw added: "He was clearly ordering drugs and went into a house. On the way back to Whitby the taxi was stopped by police and Price was discovered in possession of £450 worth of Ecstasy tablets."

Robert Terry, for Price, said he admitted the offence on the grounds he was only a courier. He said: "He was an errand boy for his elder brother whom he knew was going to deal the tablets."

Recorder Keen told Price: "Because it was you who went in the taxi and had the tablets, it is you who dealt in them, not your brother.

He said that Price was, in other respects, a decent member of society.