A former soldier who served in the army for 14 years started dealing class A drugs in Blackburn to make quick cash after he was medically discharged.

John Wolfendale, 34, was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his role in the army and told police the diagnosis led to his discharge.

Preston Crown Court heard how on December 1, 2021, a plain-clothes police officer in Blackburn saw a man he knew to be a drug user.

He followed him and saw a drug transaction take place from a vehicle.

The officer informed uniformed colleagues and they managed to stop the vehicle, which was being driven by the defendant.

He was searched and three wraps of crack cocaine were found in his trouser pocket along with a further 70 wraps and 60 wraps of heroin in a tub inside the car.

As well, one wrap of brown powder, one snap bag of white powder, two mobile phones, and £100 in cash was found.

Wolfendale’s home address was searched where electronic scales, unused snap bags, and £530 in cash was found.

In interview, Wolfendale said he had only been dealing for around a week and was not a career dealer, he had only started doing it as he needed money.

He had also leased a car to blend in as he did not want people to recognise him in his own car.

Mr Wolfendale said the cash found in the car was from sales that day, while £200 of the cash in the house was from selling drugs and the remainder was from his job as a gas engineer.

The total valuation of the drugs was £1,760, with 9.38g of that being crack cocaine and 11.5g of heroin.

Mitigating, Graham Rishton said this was an “amateurish” operation and there was an “element of naivety to him setting up the endeavour in the way he did.”

District Judge Richard Clews, sentencing, said: “You are not a bad man at all. You have chosen to commit one of the most serious offences this court deals with.

“Drugs, particularly those that are class A, cause untold misery up and down the country almost everywhere you look on a daily basis.

“What is not quite so widely known is not only are they highly addictive, but a huge proportion of the amount of crime these courts have to deal with emanates from addiction to class A drugs, because the craving becomes so bad that people in the grips of addiction will do anything to get their next fix.

“You have no previous convictions. You have served your country, if I may say so, with distinction.

“The prosecution accepted you had only been doing this for a week and due to the amount found on you, you probably had not got very far doing it.”

Judge Clews sentenced Wolfendale, of Moorgate Street, Blackburn, to two years in prison suspended for two years.

He will also have to complete 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 180 hours unpaid work, and be subject to an electronic curfew

The judge added: “I do not think you could have come any closer to having to serve an immediate sentence. It is now up to you to make sure you do not.”