A MAN who once claimed to be the main drug dealer for Foxwood and Acomb has had his latest jail term cut by nearly half.

York Crown Court heard last December that David Benjamin Isles, 37, had 15 wraps of heroin on him when police stopped him after seeing him loitering around the same part of Ouse Bridge on two days around New Year the previous winter.

He told them: “I’m just waiting for my mate. I haven’t done anything wrong since I’ve been in prison,” said Nicholas Rooke, prosecuting.

The heroin was worth £150 in street deals.

Isles, 37, of Dringfield Close, Dringhouses, pleaded guilty to possessing the drug with intent to supply it to his girlfriend and was jailed for four-and-a-half years.

He appealed to the Court of Appeal Criminal Division, which reduced the sentence to 32 months.

Mr Rooke, prosecuting, told the crown court Isles should be sentenced to at least seven years in jail under a three-strikes-and-you’re-out law because it was his third conviction for supplying or possessing Class A drugs with intent.

But defence barrister Andrew Petterson quoted case law that he said meant Isles should only have been charged with possession for the latest offence because he was an addict who had bought the heroin for himself and his partner only.

Passing the original sentence, Judge Paul Worsley QC told Isles: “You have an appalling record for drug offences. There are 62 offences on your record.”

In 2007, as part of Operation Holland, a major campaign against drug dealing in York, Isles was jailed for 54 months for four charges of supplying heroin.

On that occasion, York Crown Court heard that Isles claimed to be the main dealer in Foxwood and Acomb.

He and his “runners” supplied heroin or crack cocaine 15 times for up to £30 a time to an undercover police officer.

In July 2014 he was jailed for five years for possession of heroin with intent to supply.