A 'busy' drug dealer who sent out advertising texts to his customers has walked free from court.
Gary Baxter sold cocaine and cannabis to 46 customers and would keep them informed about what deals were available via messages.
When police raided his home in Sunderland, they found relatively small amounts of drugs along with dealing paraphernalia and damning text messages on his phone.
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A judge told him that usually those who sell class A drugs go to prison but suspended his sentence after hearing he had stopped taking narcotics and moved away from the area to make a fresh start.
It was on November 28 2019 that police searched his home, when no-one was present and found a holdall containing 3.29g of cocaine, 9.4g of cannabis, scales and bags.
He was stopped and arrested in a car and had £175 cash on him.
Texts on his iPhone revealed messages about drug supply between September and November 2019.
Sentencing him at Newcastle Crown Court, Judge Penny Moreland said: "You had been running a busy drug dealing business.
"Texts showed you accepted connections from people you didn't know through recommendations and provided drugs.
"You sent out advertising texts to groups of contacts, letting them know what drugs you had and when they were available."
Baxter, who started dealing to fund his cocaine habit, also had a baseball bat and lock knife at his home, which the judge said was an aggravating factor.
Judge Moreland added: "You should understand, for dealing in class A drugs, you should expect an immediate custodial sentence.
"I'm just persuaded, I repeat just persuaded, the sentence can be suspended."
Baxter, 33, now of Bentinck Street, Doncaster, whose only previous convictions were for drug possession as a youth, was sentenced to two years suspended for 18 months with a six month electronically monitored curfew betwen 7pm and 7am and 150 hours unpaid work.
Richard Herrmann, defending, said Baxter has stayed out of trouble since his arrest and was terrified at the prospect of going to prison.
He said: "It was his drug addiction which dragged him into dealing drugs. He was a heavy user of class A drugs.
"Shocked by his arrest, he went almost immediately cold turkey and has not used drugs since.
"He moved himself in early 2020 completely out of the area in order to further his desire to completely withdraw from drug use and has lived in Doncaster with his partner and eight-year-old autistic son."
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