A ‘MID-level’ Nelson heroin dealer has been jailed for five years.

Father-of-two Javed Khan, 33, had been arrested after police, on entirely different duties, came across him supplying to a man about midday in May last year.

His home was then searched and officers found £3,000 cash which was contaminated with heroin,1000 plastic bags and weighing scales stashed away in a cupboard, Burnley Crown Court heard.

The defendant had at first indicated in a letter he wanted to plead guilty to the allegation, but then changed his mind, denied it and stood trial.

He was convicted by a jury in October, but still protested his innocence and alleged claims by a probation officer he told him he wished he had owned up and that he could turn back time were untrue, the hearing was told.

Khan, of St Mary Street, Nelson, was found guilty of possessing heroin with intent to supply.

Sentencing, Recorder Anthony Cross, QC, told the defendant the jury had concluded he was a mid-level dealer, supplying for profit and the ‘paraphernalia’ of a drug dealer had been found at his house.

The judge said the evidence against the defendant had been, in his view, overwhelming yet Khan had chosen to call and wife and sister as witnesses.

He said: "You have lost your job, are depressed and have effectively lost your home, your wife and have alienated your family and children."

Michael Blakey, defending, said Khan had no previous convictions for supplying offences.

Since he was remanded in custody on October 30, his life had taken a ‘devastating turn’. He understood his wife, who had not been to see him in prison, intended to divorce him. He had not seen his children, who were confused over where he was, and his mother was in intensive care in Pakistan, Mr Blakey said.

The barrister added: "It is his first time in prison and it has impacted upon him a great deal. His concern is not for himself but for his family."

After the case, Detective Constable Rachel North welcomed the sentence and said: "The judge recognised the defendant was not just a street dealer .He was supplying at quite a high level and profiting from it."