A DRUG dealer has been jailed for being in possession of amphetamine with a street value of nearly £20,000.

David Leonard Turner, of Glastonbury Close, Popley appeared at Winchester Crown Court of Friday last week having earlier pleaded guilty to four drug-related charges.

Turner was arrested after police saw him acting suspiciously on October 7, and officers stopped him in his Ford Transit van.

Searching the vehicle, officers found two tubs filled with amphetamines and two sealable bands with cannabis resin.

The court heard following the arrest, officers searched the former landscape gardener’s home, where they found another tub of amphetamine, more than £600 in cash and a stash of 2kg of amphetamine in a wheelie bin.

Prosecutor Thomas Power told the court the 2kg stash could have a street value of up to £20,000.

Mr Power said: “From the texts received on his phone it was clear he was a dealer and he would collect debts owed, showing a significant role in the crime.”

The court heard Turner turned to selling drugs after having to give up his job as a landscape gardener to become his wife’s full-time career, as she suffered with liver disease.

Defending the 64-year-old, David Jenkins, said that he was in a poor financial state while also trying to look after his wife.

Mr Jenkins said: “He took the option to become a street dealer after a friend offered him the opportunity.

“He knows what he did his wrong and he does not wish to go near anything of this nature again.”

In sentencing Judge Susan Evans QC said she could impose a harsher sentence but would not due to his wife’s condition.

Judge Evans said: “It is you who is responsible for the position you are in and you know that. Drugs bring misery to others and it effects those around you.”

Turner was jailed for 18 months for each of two counts of possession of a Class B drug with the intent to supply, 14 months for one count of possession of a Class C drug with the intent to sell, and 18 months for one count of being concerned in the supplying of a Class B drug.

The jail terms are to all run concurrently.