A DRUG dealer has been jailed for 36 months after being caught with about £1,000 in street value of Class A drugs.

Derek Sarfo was caught on April 27 with cocaine and heroin and was charged with two counts of possession with intent to supply after an address was searched by police.

The 24-year-old was also caught in breach of a suspended sentence he received for previous drug offences.

READ MORE: Men found guilty of double kidnapping over £100k drug debt

Judge Kirsty Real sentenced him at Reading Crown Court on Thursday (August 31).

The court heard that in April, police had a warrant issued to search an address on suspicion of drug activity.

Sarfo, of Kennet Side, Reading, was at the address and climbed out of the window in attempts to flee from officers.

He was detained by officers and arrested. Officers found 50 wraps of Class A drugs in the property, 20 of heroin and 30 of cocaine, to the street value of £1,000.

His home address was subsequently searched and officers found drug paraphernalia, scales, cash, and ‘expensive items of clothing’ which the Crown submits were bought with money from drug activity.

READ MORE: Police made almost 50 arrests over Reading Festival weekend

A phone was also found which an expert analysed and found that a drug line was being operated from it under the same name Sarfo had previously used when he was arrested and sentenced.

His defence barrister stated that the 24-year-old had first got involved in drug dealing due to ‘financial opportunism’ because ‘money was quite tight’ at home.

When he received 19 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, Sarfo had ‘moved on’, according to his barrister, before he started using cocaine, cannabis and drinking alcohol.

“That turned into a drug debt and the reoffending,” said his barrister.

The court also heard that Sarfo claimed the ‘expensive clothing’ was bought using Klarna, an app that allows customers to buy an item and pay for it at a later date.

Sentencing Sarfo, Judge Real said: “It seems things spiralled and got worse and worse for you.

“You initially were in a good position and had employment but you wanted to make money and from then you got further into drug use and debt.

“What is impressive is all the references about you, you clearly have a lot of people around you who support you.”

READ MORE: Death of three-year-old baby on holiday is still unknown

He received two years each to run concurrently for two counts of possession with intent to sell and 12 months consecutive for breaching his suspended sentence order.