A DEALER caught by police in a crackdown on a North-East town's burgeoning heroin trade had his sentence upheld by Appeal Court judges.

John Oliver Thompson, 41, told officers he began supplying narcotics because he became involved in a "drugs co-operative" with fellow users. He denied being a commercial dealer.

Thompson, of Westctott Terrace, Ferryhill, County Durham, was jailed for six-and-a-half years at Teesside Crown Court in November last year after admitting conspiracy to supply heroin.

Nine others were also handed prison sentences for their roles in supplying drugs in the Ferryhill area.

Mrs Justice Swift, who upheld Thompson's sentence, said police targeted Thompson after noticing a regular stream of visitors to his home for short periods each day.

In one morning session they saw about 30 people coming and going from his home.

His offending was made worse by the fact he persisted in trading after police twice raided his home and other premises in November 2003.

His trial was told that some of those buying drugs from Thompson and his co-conspirators were undercover officers posing as users.

Mrs Justice Swift, sitting with Mr Justice Nelson yesterday, said the trial judge had sentenced Thompson on the basis that he was not the man in charge. "There was, however, nothing excessive about his sentence," she concluded.