AN ECSTASY and cannabis dealer was today starting a four-and-a-half year jail sentence.

Eight detectives have won commendations for catching sound engineer Howard Boughton in a crackdown on drugs in clubs and pubs.

York Crown Court heard the freelance sound engineer, who has worked for television and Harrogate International Centre, peddled Ecstasy for four months last autumn.

But undercover police officers trapped him three times in a pub as part of Operation Cambridge, during which they went undercover to target drug dealing in Harrogate area drinking spots.

"There is good public concern over the supply of both class A and class B drugs in public houses and clubs in the UK," Recorder Jonathan Gibson told Boughton.

"This was persistent commercial supplying of class A drugs."

The judge heard that though the sound engineer did not have any previous drugs convictions, he was on bail for a drugs offence at the time.

Boughton, who has homes in Nidd Vale Terrace and Grey Street, Harrogate, pleaded guilty to supplying Ecstasy, a class A drug, between August 1 and December 8 last year, supplying undercover police officers with the drug three times, possessing 100 Ecstasy tablets with intent to supply, attempted possession of Ecstasy, supplying cannabis, a class B drug, possessing cannabis with intent to supply and possessing cannabis and possessing amphetamine.

His barrister, Natasha Wood, said he "drifted" into drug dealing to pay off debts when he and his long-time partner split up and he fell into financial difficulties.

He was not a large-scale dealer with a lavish lifestyle.

Prosecutor James Robinson said police stopped Boughton with 37 or 38 tablets he thought were Ecstasy on April 14.

They were really caffeine mixed with another chemical with a street value of between £228 and £380. He was bailed.

On November 3, 17 and 23 he supplied a total of 33 Ecstasy tablets to the Operation Cambridge team.

"On December 8 matters came to a head," said Mr Robinson. Boughton was caught with 20 tablets for sale, plus another 100 in his house, plus eight-and-a-half ounces of cannabis, plus a small amount of amphetamine.

Mrs Wood said 50 of the tablets in his house belonged to a friend and that all his drug dealing had been to "friends and acquaintances".

Updated: 12:14 Tuesday, March 27, 2001