A drug dealer on crutches threw away two Kinder Surprise eggs containing crack cocaine and heroin as he hurried off from the police, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

Phillip Mee was seen discarding the eggs after he was suspected of drug dealing in Acres Street, Keighley, on the morning of February 7 last year.

Yesterday, he was jailed for 27 months to run concurrently with a 26 month prison sentence he is already serving for affray.

Mee, 23, of no fixed address, was sentenced on a video link to HMP Wealstun where he is currently an inmate.

Prosecutor Ashleigh Metcalfe said that police officers on the watch for drug dealers saw Mee going down a ginnel.

He “hurried off” on his crutches, throwing away something between a wall and a garage.

When he was apprehended he had £215 in cash on him.

One of the Kinder Surprise eggs contained four wraps of crack cocaine worth £34 and the other 17 wraps of heroin valued at £78.

Mee was immediately frank with the police and went on to plead guilty to two offences of possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply.

His barrister, Clare Walsh, said the offence of affray was committed after Mee was caught drug dealing.

The two matters would have been dealt with together if there hadn’t been such a marked delay.

Mee had problems with anxiety, anger issues and difficulty with his memory after his pedal cycle was involved in a road accident with a vehicle in 2019.

He had spent six years living on the streets and in hostels and was offered a flat above a takeaway in return for selling the drugs.

Mrs Walsh said that Mee was not a Class A drug user but he did smoke cannabis.

He was homeless and exploited, she told the court, selling the drugs in return for a small wage and a roof over his head.

Judge Jonathan Gibson conceded that Mee’s life had been very difficult and he had struggled to manage on the streets and in hostels.

While in custody he was making serious attempts to improve things and to turn his life around by taking the help that was being offered to him.

Judge Gibson said an important consideration was that he had no previous convictions involving Class A drugs or drug dealing.

He said the 27 month jail sentence would start immediately, running alongside the balance of the existing prison term.