A Dovercourt cannabis drug dealer who hid £500 in cash in a garden shed in Colchester while he was being chased by police has been jailed for 22 months.

Dequam Watson ran off when he saw police waiting at a flat in Maple Way, Colchester, and jumped over several garden fences as he tried to escape, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

At one stage he hid £500 in £20 notes behind a cat flap in a shed as he ran through a garden, Matthew Bagnall, prosecuting, told the court.

When police caught up with him, they seized a mobile phone which contained messages relating to cannabis dealing.

Watson, 26, of Cliff Road, Dovercourt, and Kamer Minott, 20, of Knights Hill, London, were sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court on Monday.

Watson admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis between August 1 and September 16 last year and possessing criminal property, namely cash on September 16 last year. He was jailed for 22 months.

Minott pleaded guilty to possessing heroin and cocaine with intent to supply on September 16 last year and breaching a suspended prison sentence order. He was sentenced to 53 months detention in a young offenders’ institution.

Mr Bagnall told the court that police officers went to a flat in Maple Way, Colchester on September 16 last year because of concerns about drug dealing at the address.

Minott was present at the address and was found to have a small number of wraps in his sock and the waistband of his trousers.

A large quantity of heroin and cocaine was discovered in a rucksack as well as a burner phone for the “TJ” drug line which contained text messages advertising the sale of class A drugs.

Sebastian Gardner, for Watson, said his client had two children and had moved from London following his release from prison.

Watson had initially lived in Colchester before moving to the Harwich area.

He’d been diagnosed with ADHD and had used cannabis to calm himself down and he’d also used the drug for pain relief following an accident.

The court heard that Minott had previous convictions for drug-related offences and had from time-to-time manned the drugs line.

“He was the unlucky one on the day of the police raid to be the person who was holding the phone,” his barrister Nick Bonehill said.