A STARK warning has been issued to drug dealers after a man caught with more than 400 ecstasy tablets was jailed for three-and-a-half years.Michael Evans, 22, had planned to sell the pills, which have a potential street value of £4,500, to friends at a knock-down price.

A STARK warning has been issued to drug dealers after a man caught with more than 400 ecstasy tablets was jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Michael Evans, 22, had planned to sell the pills, which have a potential street value of £4,500, to friends at a knock-down price.

He was arrested after a police raid at the home he shared with his mother in Pembroke Close, Mildenhall, on December 14 last year. Just over 11gms of cannabis was also discovered in the man's bedroom.

Evans, who pleaded guilty to possession of a class A drug with intent to supply and possession of a class B drug at a previous hearing, was before Bury St Edmunds Crown Court yesterdayfor sentence.

Speaking after the case, Insp Adrian Dawson, of Suffolk police, said: “In this particular instance, I was extremely pleased that more than 400 Ecstasy tablets were taken off the streets of Mildenhall by positive police action.

“I hope that the message will go out to other drug dealers in the area that Suffolk Police will not tolerate drug dealing and we will continue to target these individuals. If you are dealing drugs in our community, a custodial sentence is a distinct possibility.”

Recorder Peter Guest, told Evans: “Ecstasy is a class A drug. It ruins people's lives and it kills. I have a clear duty to punish those who deal in class A drugs and to warn others tempted to act similarly of the potential serious consequences they face.

“This was a very large quantity of tablets and you contemplated, I am quite sure, serious supplying.”

Richard Potts, prosecuting, said police found 407 pink tablets in a drawer in Evans' bedroom. Fragments equivalent to a further 25 pills were also discovered, along with the cannabis , which the defendant said was for personal use, and £110 cash.

Charles Kellett mitigating for Evans, said his client turned to drugs after suffering “deep depression” following a serious kidney collapse which left him “gravely ill” in Cambridge's Addenbrooke's Hospital.

“It is clear that the defendant has, over a number of years, been involved with the taking of elicit drugs of a wide variety,” said Mr Kellett.

“He had an unhappy and troubled upbringing, and recalls an occasion when his father took a knife to him in childhood. But off his own back the defendant has cut down markedly on the amount of drugs and alcohol he has been taking, and has sought to put his own life in order.”

Mr Kellett said Evans had brought the around 450 tablets for £1 each at a rave several weeks before the police raid at his mother's home.

“He used to go clubbing four or five times a week, and saw drugs as part of the enjoyment. That shallow attitude is something he has been forced to revise, and he appreciates how silly it is.

After sentencing Evans, Recorder Guest ordered the destruction of the drugs and forfeiture of the cash discovered by police.