A drugs dealer who continued to ply his trade after being repeatedly caught and bailed by police was today finally behind bars.

Sean Howarth, who claimed he had even asked the police to lock him up, was yesterday jailed for four-and-a-half years by a judge who branded the decision to continually give him bail as "extraordinary".

Every time police raided his Keighley home they confiscated large amounts of drugs which meant that when he was bailed his debts to his dealers escalated.

Bradford Crown Court was told that he ended up owing £100,000 and fled the country for Holland when he was given bail for the final time last summer.

"It seems that the police did him and the people of Bradford no favours when he was repeatedly bailed," defence barrister Giles Bridge said.

The court was told that Howarth, 35, was first caught dealing by undercover officers in Keighley in November 2004 when he swallowed a package containing ten wraps of crack cocaine.

He was then seen dealing again later that month when he had more drugs and £600 in used bank notes. Officers then searched his home at Willow Tree Close, where he lived with his wife and child and found more than £14,000 worth of heroin and crack cocaine in his shed.

Howarth made full admissions in an interview, but prosecutor Sophie Drake told the court he was still granted bail.

When he failed to show up at the police station to answer that bail in January 2005 police again raided his home and found 20 wraps of heroin along with other drugs paraphernalia.

Despite admitting in interview that he had been a drug addict for 15 years and was selling drugs to fund his own habit and pay off drugs debts, he was once again bailed.

But again he failed to answer that bail and police searched his home and uncovered £650 worth of heroin.

Howarth admitted that he had been dealing full-time for three or fourth months but was still allowed out on bail that he again failed answer resulting in another search of his house in May.

This time officers uncovered class A drugs with a street value of £11,757. But still he was granted bail.

"I'm not sure how," Miss Drake admitted.

He was caught with more drugs on two more occasions, the court was told.

Mr Bridge said that Howarth, who admitted to charges of possession of drugs with intent to supply and failing to answer his bail, had fled the country because serious threats were made by dealers he owed money to.

"He knew that every time he would be arrested and bailed his situation would get worse because of pressure on him to carry on selling would have been there and would have increased," he added.

Mr Bridge told the judge that Howarth was storing the larger amounts of drugs that were found at his house for other people.

Passing sentence Recorder Bryan Cox told Howarth that he had been dealing in a "significant and persistent" fashion.

He also made an order under the Proceeds of Crime Act confiscating nearly £2,000.

He was told that Howarth had made £9,524 from his dealing but that the recoverable amount was £1,857.