A Woodbridge drug dealer who was found in possession of crack cocaine with a street value of more than £12,000 has been jailed for 44 months.

Police officers went to Darnell Blanchard’s home with a search warrant on April 11 and when they asked if there was anything they needed to know, he replied: “Yes there’s some drugs here, I can’t lie. They are in the bedroom.”

He also said: “You couldn’t have come at a worse time. You could have come last month and there would have been nothing,” Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Lynne Shirley, prosecuting, said a total of 128g of crack cocaine and £1,780 cash was found at the premises.

An expert had valued the bulk amount of cocaine at £4,500 - £5,000 but said if it was divided into street deals it would have been worth an estimated £12,800.

Blanchard, 25, of Orwell Court, Woodbridge, admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply and possessing criminal property.

The court heard Blanchard was locked up in 2016 for 40 months for possessing heroin and cocaine with intent to supply.

Ian Persaud, for Blanchard, described his client’s involvement with the drugs found at his home as “sheer stupidity.”

He said Blanchard’s father had been a drug addict and unsurprisingly the defendant had become one, too.