A drug dealer has been jailed after he was caught red handed selling crack cocaine just yards from Exeter Quay.
Joshua Murphy was bullied into coming to Devon from Liverpool after running up drug debts of his own and lived rough for a week as he tried to get rid of £1,000 worth of heroin and crack cocaine.
He tried to flee down the towpath at the Canal Basin after being spotted in the middle of a transaction in the car park of a pub on Haven Banks by a Police Community Support Officer.
He was chased down by the PCSO and other police who joined the hunt and found with 35 street deals in his pocket and £350 cash hidden in his sock.
He claimed he was on holiday in Devon and had just bought the drugs with the intention of experimenting with them but later admitted he was a street dealer.
Murphy, aged 19, from Liverpool, admitted two offences of having heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply and was jailed for two years and eight months in a Young Offenders' Institution by Judge Phillip Wassall at Exeter Crown Court.
The Judge told him:"It is a fact of life that people who get involved in the drugs world will be used by dealers who will employ violence or threats to get them involved.
"You chose to come and sell drugs in Devon rather than telling the authorities and that made you part of a chain of supply. You may have been doing it to pay off a debt but you played a significant role in the chain."
Mr Lee Bremridge, prosecuting, said PCSO William Malcolm was on duty near Exe Bridges on November 1 last year when he saw suspicion activity in the car park of the Harvester restaurant.
He said:"Murphy walked towards the PCSO then did a dramatic u-turn when he saw the officer and ran off but was stopped after a short time on the footpath near the river after other officers went to the area."
He was found with 31 wraps of crack cocaine worth £620 and four £10 deals of heroin and £352.90 cash in his sock. He said he was from Liverpool and was sleeping rough in Exeter but initially claimed to be a buyer rather than a seller of drugs.
Miss Eleanor Purkiss, defending, said Murphy had been pressurised to come to Devon by dealers in Liverpool who threatened him with violence unless he worked for them to pay off a debt.
She said he had been held responsible for debts run up to drug dealers by a friend who had borrowed his phone.
