A DRUG dealer who started his illegal trade in the playground at the age of 14 has been jailed for eight months.

Jason Burton, 23, of WestfieldWalk, Loftus, was caught with more than £350-worth of cannabis after police went to his home looking for someone else.

His mobile phone revealed that he had an extensive list of customers, but he claimed the drugs were for his own use.

There were numerous messages asking for cannabis on the handset, as well as a debtors' list, Teesside Crown Court heard yesterday.

Ian Mularkey, prosecuting, told the court that "skunk" valued at £166 was discovered at his home.

Drugs worth £190 and £766 in cash were found in a locker when police visited his workplace in nearby South Bank.

Duncan McReddie, mitigating, told the court that Burton had been a user since his teens, but he had always worked hard. The father-to-be had a job at a chilled food factory when he was arrested on June 7 last year, said Mr Mullarkey.

When he was 14, Burton was cautioned by police for selling £2-worth of cannabis at his school, the prosecutor added.

Burton disputes that offence, but MrMcReddie said it would have little, if any, impact on his sentence.

"He is a young man who has, he freely admits, had an involvement with cannabis since his teens - principally as a consumer. He fell into a pattern of small-scale retail dealership because he became a focal point for a group of likeminded individuals.

"Parliament has decreed that cannabis is illegal - a Class B drug - and its production, sale and use is treated seriously by the courts. It is, nevertheless, a fact that there is a large cohort of younger people who view it entirely differently," added Mr McReddie.

Burton admitted possessing Class B drugs with intent to supply at an earlier court hearing.

Judge George Moorhouse told him: "This kind of offence is a very serious offence, and so serious it justifies a custodial sentence.

"You have seen how drugs affect people. By selling it to others, you are only encouraging their problems."