Drug dealer Paul Evans, who was caught with thousands of pounds worth of heroin and cocaine, has been jailed for four years.

Evans, of Adcroft Street, Trowbridge, tried to dump a bag containing the drugs out of the window as police approached the house he shared with his partner, Swindon Crown Court heard on Friday.

When officers entered the house they found a television set and jewellery which the 38-year-old had taken in exchange for drugs.

And passing sentence a judge said he had included an element of deterrent saying “you were carving some sort of existence out of your drug dealing.”

Claire Marlow, prosecuting, told the court that police first went to the house Evans shares with partner Della Williams in December 2007.

They only found cash n the occasion but returned on Monday January 14 last year when the drugs and other items were seized.

“As they approached an officer noticed a window open and a hand come out of the window and drop a package outside,” she said.

The bundle was picked up and found to be two packages each containing heroin and cocaine.

When he was searched Evans was also found to have a small amount of cocaine on him as well as £110 which was in his shoe.

In total officers seized 16.852 grams of cocaine and 14.9 grams of heroin with a street value of about £2,300.

They also found the TV and jewellery which he accepted he had taken in payment for drugs from other users.

Evans pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing drug with intent to supply.

The court heard he had a number of previous convictions and had been jailed for similar offences in the past.

Tony Bignall, defending, said his client was a man with a long standing drug habit and realised he was facing a lengthy jail term.

“This is a man with a problem, a problem which led him into greater problems. He was contacted by people in Trowbridge. It is not as if he was supplying people who did not already have a severe habit,” he said.

Jailing him, Judge Douglas Field said “The courts have to make it clear that someone s facing the charges that you face must expect imprisonment.

“And imprisonment containing a deterrent nature because of the danger of class A drugs, in your case heroin and cocaine.

“You have been unemployed for some time and I am quite satisfied you were making a living out of selling drugs.

“You weren’t at the top end, a Mr Big as it were, but you were carving some sort of existence out of your drug dealing.”

Williams, 41, had also been charged with the same offences but the prosecution dropped the case against her after Evans admitted his guilt.