A DRUG dealer who tried to hide a mobile phone containing incriminating text messages in his hat when he was stopped by police has been jailed.

Preston Crown Court heard Stuart Jordan Gabbott, 23, had already been convicted of drug dealing twice when police saw the car he was a passenger in being driving suspiciously in Blackburn town centre.

That caused PC Warren Donnelly to follow the vehicle into a dead end at around 1.10pm on June 15.

Prosecutor Rebecca McGregor said: “There was a strong smell of cannabis in the vehicle. The defendant tried to hide his mobile phone under the hat he was wearing. When he was asked by the officer he handed it over."

Ms McGregor said police found three bags of skunk cannabis in the car, which Gabbott said were for his own personal use. A total of £210 cash was either found on the defendant or at his home.

When experts examined the phone they found Gabbott had sent a message to six people advertising cannabis which he described as ‘bang on’.

When he was interviewed by police he maintained the drugs found in the car were for his own personal use. However, he had intended to collect some more cannabis later that day and sell it to a small circle of friends, the prosecution said.

Gabbott, of Fox Street, Preston, pleading guilty to possessing cannabis with intent to supply and making an offer to supply cannabis.

The court heard that Gabbott had committed those offences in a period of time after a judge had deferred sentencing him for possessing cannabis with intent to supply.

Ms McGregor said that offence took place on May 14, 2016, when Gabbott was subject to a suspended sentence for possessing cannabis with intent to supply. That offence took place in June 2014 and he was given nine months imprisonment, suspended for 24 months.

Ms McGregor said Gabbott, who has 19 convictions for 24 offences including six which are drug-related, had never been to prison before.

Defending, Darren Lee-Smith said his client had developed a cannabis habit and was dealing to pay off his own debt.

Mr Lee-Smith said: “The defendant has explained to me the reason why he had committed the offence. There a suggestion of duress. He accepts full responsibility for his behaviour.”

Judge Jonathan Gibson, who had deferred Gabbott’s last sentencing hearing, said: “I still think there is a reasonable chance you will turn your life around while in custody.”

Gabbott was jailed for 18 months.