A CONVICTED robber who claimed he took up to 25 ecstasy tablets a night has been jailed for pedalling bogus dance drug pills.

Steven Michael Pearson had difficulty holding back the tears as he was led down to the cells at York Crown Court after a jury found him guilty of possessing drugs with intent to supply them.

The court heard when police raided Steven Michael Pearson's shared house in Melbourne Street, off Fishergate, York, they found 100 tablets that looked like the illegal dance drug - but were actually nothing of the sort.

A police forensic scientist revealed the tablets really contained ketamine, pictured, - an animal tranquilliser - and amphetamine, also known as speed.

Karma Nelly, prosecuting, said police had found tablets stamped with a Mitsubishi logo hidden in Pearson's wardrobe on February 7.

Witness and North Yorkshire Police drug expert Det Con Paul Johnson, said the Mitsubishi logo on the tablets was well-known in the drugs world as being synonymous with ecstasy.

He said ecstasy tablets sold at between £2 and £5 each, although a batch of 100 could sell for between £100 to £150.

Pearson denied possessing both ketamine and amphetamine with intent to supply them to others, and trying to obtain ecstasy with intent to supply it.

Giving evidence in his defence, Pearson, 33, who lives on benefits, said he had believed the drugs were ecstasy when he bought them for £80.

But he also said he had tested them at his supplier's house and realised that they were not ecstasy.

He claimed he took up to 25 ecstasy tablets a night and that he saved £40 a fortnight from his benefits to buy drugs. Several times, he denied ever dealing in drugs.

But a jury convicted him on all three drug dealing charges and the Recorder of York, Judge Paul Hoffman sentenced Pearson, now of no fixed abode, to 21 months in jail.

Judge Hoffman, pictured, said: "He has a credibility problem. Anything he says is suspect."

"You acquired 100 tablets which you hoped and believed were ecstasy and you intended to supply at least some of them - probably most of them - onto other people."

Mark McKone, mitigating for Pearson, said he had kicked his drug habit after his arrest. He was now suffering from depression and anxiety caused by his drug taking.

The court heard Pearson had a long criminal record, including a conviction for robbery, and 40 offences for dishonesty, but none for drug dealing.