A HEROIN dealer is today behind bars after police spotted him behaving suspiciously in a street of upmarket properties.

Stuart Philip Tether had “advertised” his wares via his phone to 30 people and had £250 in cash and five heroin wraps worth £50 on him, said Rob Galley, prosecuting at York Crown Court.

Defence barrister Ian Hudson said Tether was selling to fund his own long-standing heroin addiction.

“The defendant was vulnerable because he was homeless and because of his addiction, and was being exploited by others,” he said.

Tether, 37, of the Peasholme Centre, Fishergate, York, pleaded guilty to possessing heroin with intent to supply others and was jailed for 27 months.

Judge Andrew Stubbs QC said given the circumstances when he was arrested, Tether could have been carrying out a drug deal at the time and he had certainly supplied at least three other people.

Mr Galley said two police officers were driving down Skeldergate on January 23, 2018, when they saw two men behind a block of flats acting in a manner that seemed suspicious to them, so the officers stopped and spoke to them.

A search of Tether at the scene found the money and three mobile phones and a more detailed search of him at Fulford Road Police Station revealed the five wraps of heroin.

Altogether the heroin weighed 792mg. Each wrap was worth about £10 in a street deal.

Mr Hudson said Tether’s was a “very sorry tale”.

In the past, he had been “held” by “travellers” but he didn’t speak about that period of his life because he was afraid of “repercussions”.

The judge told Tether: “You more than anyone else in court know the misery that drugs can cause. You yourself have been addicted for a long period of time.”