A DRUG runner who flogged heroin and crack cocaine to fund his habit and clear a debt to his dealers was rumbled after he sold drugs to an undercover police officer.

Daniel Halfacre, 36, was arrested after he was repeatedly identified as a Class A drug dealer across a three-day period in September 2019.

Ipswich Crown Court heard he was introduced to an undercover officer, known as ‘Baz’, in a churchyard in Clacton.

After selling him three wraps of heroin for £20, Halfacre and the officer exchanged telephone numbers.

The officer contacted him the next day, arranging the purchase of one wrap of cocaine.

Halfacre, of Jackson Road, Clacton, was later arrested after a patrolling officer spotted him acting suspiciously.

After a negative search for drugs, a clear plastic bag was found nearby on the ground containing 20 wraps.

The wraps were analysed and were found to contain both heroin and cocaine.

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Halfacre later admitted two counts of supplying a Class A drug and two counts of possession with intent to supply a Class A drug, on the basis he had acted as a drugs runner under the pressure of others.

Lynne Shirley, mitigating, said Halfacre had already spent the equivalent of seven months behind bars awaiting sentence.

She said he is successfully overcoming his Class A drug addiction while in prison and hopes to rekindle his relationship with his teenage daughter.

She said: “He was addicted to heroin and he sold drugs, of course, to fund his own habit.

“The reason being he had a debt of £500. Those above him, those dealers, sought to enforce that debt and that resulted in him being where he is now.”

The court heard while in Norwich prison, he spent 23 hours a day locked in his cell.

Jailing Halfacre for two years and one month, Judge David Pugh said: “You have five convictions for nine offences, although I note that none are for the supply of drugs.

“I also note you have been addressing your addiction while on remand.”