A former heroin addict has become clean in the years since police arrested him over dealing cocaine and cannabis nearly four years ago, a court has heard.

Eric Burn, 45, was found with bags of heroin worth £560 and £155 each during a search by police of his vehicle in Llanfyllin on August 29, 2020.

A search of his mobile phone records found that he was involved in the supply of cannabis from September 5, 2019, to August 30, 2020.

Burn pleaded guilty to both offences and was handed a six-month community order to help him to keep off drugs.

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Owain Jones, acting on behalf of Burn, told magistrates that "nothing really excuses the delay" which has some offences dating back to September 2019.

"I appreciate phone analysis takes months but we’re talking about years here," he said.

"The defendant is unaware of anything else pending or even being considered. We do think the police tried to bolster their case.

"He has been stopped four times since the arrest and the police have found nothing. Perhaps they realised his case wasn’t as strong as they thought it would be.

"Your prerogative is punishment and rehabilitation. You’ll be glad that there have been four stops and nothing has come from it because he has behaved over many years.

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"You’ll be glad to note where once upon a time he was an addict now he tells me he is clean from heroin and other hard drugs. There’s much to commend, really.

"He’s lost a voice box. But he had a terrible accident falling from a roof where he broke a leg. He’s been in a bad way as of late."

Speaking on behalf of the probation service, Julian Davies said Burn told him that he "deeply regrets what he did when he was on heroin".

"He tells me that he was heavily dependent on heroin and purchased drugs for his own use when he was stopped by police.

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"He occasionally acted as a middleman when people asked where they could get cannabis from. That in turn would get him to purchase cheaper drugs from the dealer."

Magistrates decided to go with Mr Davies' recommendation to impose a impose a six-month community order with 10 rehabilitation requirement days which includes undergoing relapse prevention work.

Burn, of Broniarth View, Meifod, was fined £120 and ordered to pay a £95 victim surcharge as well as £85 prosecution costs.