A teenager caught selling drugs on his bicycle for the J Line dealer ring was attacked and exploited by those higher up the chain, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Einaras Siberkstis was 18 when he was assaulted by his unscrupulous bosses and made to continue selling heroin and crack cocaine on the city’s streets, his barrister, Clare Walsh, said.

The slightly built teenager was visibly frightened as he sat in the dock waiting to be sentenced.

Sparing him immediate custody, the judge told him: “You would be eaten alive in a young offender institution.”

Siberkstis, of Newton Street, near Manchester Road, Little Horton, Bradford, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs to an undercover police officer on March 29 last year.

He also admitted supplying crack cocaine to the officer, who was part of Operation Errantdance, on Manningham Lane on April 3.

The Lithuanian national, now aged 19, was of previous good character, the court heard yesterday.

Prosecutor Philip Adams said he was dealing on his bicycle, selling wraps for £7 each.

When test purchase officer “Emily” saw Siberkstis on Manningham Lane, she and an addict followed him down an alleyway where he sold them Class A drugs, Mr Adams said.

Siberkstis was arrested in October and was immediately frank with the police, the court heard.

He told his probation officer he was dealing Class A drugs to pay off a £200 cannabis debt.

Mrs Walsh said Siberkstis was a hardworking landscape gardener.

“This is a young man who made the most stupid mistake when he got involved with cannabis,” she told the court.

He was now drug free and had a bright future ahead of him, the court was told.

Mrs Walsh urged the court to take an “exceptional course” and not lock him up.

She pointed out that he was assaulted when he tried to stop working for the J Line.

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC, told Siberkstis: “I can remember being 19. I wasn’t selling drugs, I was working hard, and I think you can work hard, can’t you?

He added: “You did something monumentally stupid, selling Class A drugs on the streets of this city.”

But Siberkstis was “naïve and exploited,” used by unscrupulous people to pay off his cannabis debt.

He was now working hard, had supplied good references and was supported by his respectable family.

Judge Durham Hall sentenced Siberkstis to 16 months in custody, suspended for two years.

He was also sentenced to 300 hours of unpaid work and a six month curfew order.

The judge warned him that any breach would be rigorously dealt with.

“You can’t sell drugs and think you are going to get a pat on the back,” he said.