A man was forced to keep hide parcels of cocaine in his car to pay off debts to a drug dealer, a court has heard.

Carlton Hampson, aged 25, of Aylesbury Crescent, Hindley Green, was only 20 years old when police raided his home on July 6, 2018.

There they found his car parked nearby with five packages of cocaine hidden under the seats, coming to a street value of between £39,000 and £49,000, which he had been forced to keep by a drug dealer, Bolton Crown Court heard.

Paul Dockery, prosecuting, said: “In that sense, a drug dealer to whom he was £650 in debt pressured him to care for the cocaine.”

Police also found 69 MDMA tablets and cannabis hidden in Hampson’s bedroom.

But, Mr Dockery said, there was no evidence that Hampson was involved in dealing the cocaine to users.

He explained that the prosecution accepted Hampson was “regarded as having played a lesser role.”

Hampson ultimately admitted to possession of cocaine and cannabis with intent to supply and to possession of ecstasy.

Anna Chestnutt, defending, argued that though Hampson did not seek to justify his actions, he was a very young man at the time and that he had committed no other offences since then.

She said: “The illicit drugs trade destroys people’s lives and he regrets his involvement in that.”

She added: “He was naive, he was £600 in debt to a drug dealer.”

Ms Chestnutt explained that this meant that Hampson had not been making any financial gain from keeping the cocaine.

She also drew attention to the toll the case, which had been delayed for such a long time because of the pandemic, had taken on his mental health.

Judge Tom Gilbart acknowledged that Hampson had displayed a ‘deep sense of shame’ about his involvement and that he had been “exploited by more sophisticated individuals.”

He said: “You involved yourself through your own foolishness in a considerable amount of Class A drugs.

Judge Gilbart sentenced Hampson to a total of two years in prison, suspended for two years, with 250 hours of unpaid work and 15 days of rehabilitation requirements.