A young homeless man caught dealing crack cocaine in Leeds was "utterly desperate" after being kicked out of the family home, a court heard.
Police spotted Kane Phillips selling the class A drug on Burlington Place in Beeston on November 24 last year.
Prosecutor Jessica Randell said the 20-year-old ran away but was caught.
Leeds Crown Court heard he was searched and police found four mobile phones, four small wraps crack cocaine and £40 in cash on his person.
Phillips was arrested and told police he was living on the streets and had started selling drugs a week earlier.
Phillips, who lives with his stepmother in Greenwood Road, Tingley, Wakefield, pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity to possession of class A drugs with intent to supply.
Rukhshanda Hussain, mitigating, said her client became homeless and unable to attend college after being kicked out of the family home.
She said he had been homeless for a year-and-a-half, was 'utterly desperate' when he committed the offence and received a very small wage in return.
Miss Hussain said Phillips has since gotten a job in a bar and turned his life around.
Probation officer Mike Cooper said Phillips is not a class A drug user and was coerced into offending as he was told it was an easy way to make money.
Phillips was sentenced to 16 months in a young offender institution, suspended for two years, with requirements to carry out unpaid work and abide by a curfew.
His sister sat in the public gallery during the sentencing hearing.
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