A PUB DJ who hid a dealer's drug stash at work walked free after a judge said there were exceptional circumstances to the case.

Christopher Hughes' secret was discovered at The Old Dun Cow, in Darlington, when the licensee was checking the premises before an owners' inspection.

He found a carrier bag containing what turned out to be £1,000-worth of cocaine hidden behind a sink in an unused upstairs room, said Richard Herrmann, prosecuting. There was also a set of digital scales, with traces of cocaine and cannabis resin, the court was told.

When the licensee asked 20-year-old Hughes, the landlady's son, if he knew anything about the items, he said the drugs belonged to him and he was looking after them for somebody.

Hughes went to Darlington police station, where he admitted he had been given drugs to look after for £100, Teesside Crown Court was told.

He said that he hid them two days earlier and expected to return them that day.

Dan Cordey, mitigating, said Hughes had little money when he agreed to store the drugs.

He confessed to the police before the licensee reported the find. He had no previous convictions and was now a self-employed builder.

Judge Les Spittle told Hughes: "For those who are in possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply, there has to be a prison sentence.

"You knew that what you were hiding away was drugs and they were being hidden away for a commercial benefit and that eventually they would get into the public community.

"This may just be one of those exceptional circumstances where I am not going to impose an immediate custodial sentence, but you are going to pay for it in more ways than one."

Hughes, of Huntley Street, Darlington, was sentenced to 12 months' detention, suspended for two years, and was ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work and pay £277 costs. He had pleaded guilty to the charge of possession of a Class A drug with intent to supply.