A 23-year-old county lines drug dealer who was stopped by police in a stolen car in Stowmarket has been jailed.

Joshua Thatcher was in a black BMW in Needham Road which failed to stop for officers, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

After driving off the car stopped outside Barclays Bank and the occupants, including Thatcher, ran off.

Thatcher was arrested nearby and admitted to police that he had ketamine in a man bag.

The ketamine found in his possession weighed 39g and was worth £310- £470 and police also found a mobile phone in his possession which contained messages from customers enquiring about buying ketamine from him.

“The messages indicate an element of county lines supply,” said Joanne Eley, prosecuting.

Thatcher, of no fixed address, admitted possessing ketamine in December 2019 with intent to supply and was jailed for four months.

Sentencing him Recorder Paul Garlick said the sentence should run concurrently with a sentence Thatcher was already serving and would not interfere with his release date in November.

The court heard that Thatcher was locked up for three years in July 2020 for possession with intent to supply cannabis and ecstasy.