DRUG dealers walked free from court after complaining they were delivery men who couldn’t find other work.

The pair were caught trying to deal heroin and cocaine on the streets of Basildon and were facing sentences of more than four years.

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But after appearing at Basildon Crown Court one received a suspended sentence and the other a community order.

Isfahan Khan, 23, of Aerofell Grove, Colchester, and Mohammed Islam, 18, of Folkestone Road, London, were spotted by Essex Police’s Op Raptor team in November.

Khan’s grey BMW was pulled over in Long Riding.

The pair were caught with 45 wraps of cocaine and 28 wraps of heroin together with mobile phones linking them to drug deals.

Both were charged with two counts of possession with intent to supply class A drugs and possession of cash obtained illegally.

Khan admitted all three counts while Islam initially denied the charges, before changing his pleas.

Yesterday the court heard Khan had a young child and another on the way.

Chris Whitcombe, mitigating, said: “This young man is married, has a young son and has struggled with his employment record.

“It was difficult for him to make ends meet. The real tragedy is when he found himself in financial difficulty he didn’t feel able to approach his family so he turned to drug dealing.”

Judge John Lodge sentenced him to two years in prison but then suspended the sentence.

Judge Lodge said: “You were in effect the delivery man. It’s often said so far as prison is concerned that there’s a tipping point.

“People go into prison, they operate in the system and then it becomes second nature and the punitive effect ceases to operate.

“It’s your good fortune that no one has given you bail in this case. You’ve learned that prison can do good and give young people opportunities.”

Islam, who had already spent six months on remand was handed a two-year community order and must complete 200 hours of unpaid work.