A 43-year-old man who was dealing hard drugs from his Chippenham home has been jailed for two years.

Colin Makepeace was selling heroin and crack cocaine to fund his own drugs habit, which started after his brother committed suicide.

Tessa Hingston, prosecuting told Swindon Crown Court last week how police raided his home on Tuesday October 29 last year.

She said officers were outside the property on Christopher Drive, Pewsham, at about 11am when they saw a known drug user leaving.

He was stopped and found with some class-A drugs so officers went in and found another known user inside with a wrap of heroin.

Makepeace was located inside the house and found to have 13 wraps of crack cocaine and four of heroin.

Officers also found scales and a knife with drug residue on them and a mobile phone with messages relating to the trade in drugs.

Makepeace, now of Barrington Road, Salisbury, pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply.

The court heard he had 90 previous convictions and in 2008 he received a jail term after admitting being in possession of heroin worth just under £1,000.

Jason Taylor, defending, said his client had decided to fund his habit by dealing rather than stealing from other people.

"Had he chosen to fund his habit by other acquisitive means the punishment would be less severe," he said.

The text messages found showed he had only been supplying three customers for three or four days, he said.

In the past year he said his client had moved to live with his paraplegic father and was acting as his carer.

He said he was on a methadone prescription and had been undergoing drug testing which showed he is now clear of illicit substances.

"It started in 1998 sadly when his brother committed suicide: that is how he found to cope with that," he said.

"You have here a 43-year-old man who, quite frankly in his eyes, is far too old to be going back to prison. Someone who has taken steps to deal with his drug misuse."

Jailing him for two years, Judge Peter Blair QC said: "It is the minimum I can give for someone who is involved in the low scale supply of drugs.

"This has been hanging over your head for a year now and you have been waiting for it and you have been in a difficult place for family and other reasons."