A TEENAGE drug dealer who boasted he was making £2,000 a month in cash has been jailed for three years, after being caught twice in quick succession selling heroin and crack cocaine in Trowbridge.

Demar Grant was first spotted selling drugs on the towpath of the Kennet and Avon Canal in Staverton. Then the 18-year-old, who was described as 'entrenched in the gang lifestyle', was found with hundreds of pounds worth of hard drugs close to a Trowbridge nightclub.

Grant, of Easton, Bristol, pleaded guilty to four counts of possessing drugs with intent to supply.

Colin Meeke, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court how officers spotted him close to the canal on May 8 last year.

They watched as he approached a couple of known users and a transaction appeared to take place, before moving in to arrest him.

When he was searched he was found to have three wraps of drugs on him as well as a mobile which showed what he had been up to.

After being arrested Grant, who was then 17 and not a user himself, was released under investigation but went straight back to dealing drugs.

Mr Meeke said "A little while later he was seen outside a nightclub on Castle Street in Trowbridge. He was smoking a joint and police officers were rather attracted to him.

"Perhaps not the way to behave when one is in possession of two dealer mobile phones and rather more drugs than on the last occasion.

"There were in fact 42 wraps of crack cocaine, 15 of heroin and a small wrap of heroin. £580 worth."

The mobiles, which he referred to as burner phones, were again loaded with messages consistent with dealing and Grant also had a quantity of cash.

The court heard that in 2017 he was put on a referral order for similar matters and in November last year got two years jail in Bristol for the same offending.

Mr Meeke told the court it was disappointing that neighbouring police forces had not liaised to link the two sets of offences together.

Probation officer Jackie Reynolds said that before being remanded in custody last June the teenager had shown minimal engagement in community orders.

She said he was 'quite entrenched in the gang lifestyle,' having been thrown out of school at 15 for his behaviour.

He told her by dealing 'I could make myself £2,000 a month in cash,' adding 'I could buy myself nice things'.

Emma Hayfield, defending, said he was already serving his earlier sentence and knew he was facing more time behind bars.

She said he had got an apprenticeship but when the firm collapsed he became jobless and reverted to type to make ends meet.

Jailing him, Judge Robert Pawson said "I don't know, Mr Grant, if you do understand the impact of heroin and crack cocaine on communities.

"You say that you do, or at least you have told the probation officer and your barrister you do, but only time will tell."

Speaking about drug misuse he said "You, Mr Grant, are part of that misery for profit."