A DRUG addict who was caught with 19 wraps of heroin in his home has been given a 12-month community order.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Lee Montague pleaded guilty to possessing the hard drugs on the basis he had bulk bought them for his own personal use.

The court heard when police raided Montague’s property in Gloucester Road, Chorley, on February 8 they found the drugs – 14 wraps of which were in knotted plastic bags which police described as being a method used by drug dealers, a mobile phone containing messages linked to the dealing of crack cocaine, heroin and valium, £2,000 in cash and a toothbrush with a razor blade attached.

Montague, 49, was charged with possession of heroin with intent to supply, possession of criminal property and possession of a class A drug.

Montague pleaded guilty to the possession of a class A drug charge and was found not guilty of the other two offences by a jury.

During the trial Montague told the jury that the phone containing the drug-supplier text messages were his, but that he had given it as a surety to his own drug dealer who he was in debt to.

The court heard when police raided Montague’s house they asked him if there were any drugs in the house and he said: “There’s my own personal stash on the table.”

When asked about the drugs Montague said he received £900 in Universal Credit on January 25 and got 31 wraps at a discount to last him until February 25. He also said the toothbrush was not a weapon but something to clean his heroin pipe with.

By committing the heroin possession offence, Montague, who has 42 convictions for 131 offences, put himself in breach of an 18 month suspended sentence. He was made subject to a 12-month drug rehab requirement and given 10 rehabilitation activity days.