A DRUG addict found with wraps of heroin and cocaine in his home has been spared jail.

Bradford Crown Court heard that police swooped on Darren Peel’s house in Oakworth Road, Keighley, at 1pm on December 1, 2021, after a tip-off that there were drugs on the premises.

Prosecutor Lauren Smith told the court that officers found drug paraphernalia in the house including a large quantity of dealer bags, weighing scales, a needle containing brown liquid, and a mix of used and unused needles.

Two other men were also discovered in the house: one in a basement bedroom and another in a toilet.

One of the men had two phones on him containing messages relating to the supply of drugs, as well as £160 in cash in his pocket.

Peel, 50, denied any knowledge of drugs and said the two other men had been at the house for just 45 minutes before police arrived. He and the other men were arrested at the house.

Officers found 28g of drugs on the premises, valued at £1,635, in 47 separate packages of cocaine and heroin.

Peel later pleaded guilty to permitting premises to be used for the supply of drugs. The court heard he had convictions dating back to 1991 for offences including the supply of heroin, for which he had served time in jail.

Mitigating for Peel, Lily Wildman said the offence was “very short-lived” with no suggestion that it had lasted longer than the 45 minutes he had suggested to police.

Recorder Andrew Smith said it had not been possible to get to the bottom of what had happened at Peel’s home on the day in question.

He added: “It was your house, and the whole picture was that there was long-term drug abuse going on there, and that’s something that you readily admit.

“You just can’t rid yourself of the drug addiction that you’ve had for many years.

“The person that you’re harming with your ongoing criminal offending is yourself. You’ve ruined your health. You’re still only 50.

“It’s never too late in the day for somebody to give up on the possibility of ridding themselves of a long-term drug addiction, and the probation service want to assist you in that direction.”

He imposed an 18-month community order, ordered Peel to undertake 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days, and imposed a two-month electronically monitored curfew running from 9pm to 6am.

He also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs seized at Peel’s home.