A “legless” drug dealer was snared after taking so much cocaine he was unable to control his van.

Alan Grady, 42, was spotted stumbling around and climbing inside his Vauxhall near Ashford town centre.

When police saw the former labourer almost crash into the kerb in Victoria Road they pulled him over, noticing he was on edge.

Grady tested positive for cocaine and, following a search of his Vivaro, two wraps of cocaine were uncovered.

A further search turned up 25 wraps hidden inside Grady’s sock at Ashford Police Station, where he admitted drug-dealing.

Grady was handed two years custody suspended for two years at Canterbury Crown Court on Tuesday.

Prosecutor Ben Burge said a witness reported to police a “legless man was getting into a vehicle” at about 10.45pm on June 4, 2022.

The subsequent roadside drugs test revealed he had 21 micrograms of cocaine inside his system, the specified amount is 10 micrograms.

Grady also gave a reading of 800 micrograms of benzoylecgonine, a by-product of the Class-A drug.

Grady, of the Kennington area, pleaded guilty at the first opportunity to possession with intent to supply a Class-A drug, driving while unfit through drugs and driving over the specified limit.

Judge Rupert Lowe told Grady: “You’re a rather unusual man to be up in this court for Class A drug dealing.

“You worked for a living on building sites, physically hard work and unusually long hours for a labourer, and in the middle of last year you came across the opportunity to make a bit more money, by selling cocaine and took the stupidest decision of your life, perhaps one of them, by becoming a drug dealer.

“The police were called because you were staggering around unfit to drive, and you were staggering around because you had taken cocaine yourself.”

But Maggie Biglou, mitigating, stressed Grady had only one previous conviction in 2000, and he turned to drug-dealing after suffering burn-out and low moods.

"You’re a rather unusual man to be up in this court for Class A drug dealing..."

Ms Biglou explained Grady turned to the drug as a coping mechanism, adding: “He tells me he was at his lowest at that stage, and he spoke with people who he previously worked with, who said he could sell drugs to make money.”

She added Grady had since sought help to address his cocaine problem.

Judge Lowe said Grady had been “unusually frank” with the police and had since shown a “realistic prospect of rehabilitation”.

Warning Grady any further crimes could land him in prison immediately, Judge Lowe said he believed “(This is a) genuine case of someone who need not go back into criminal offending.”

Grady, of Portland Close, was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work, 15 probation activity days, and handed an 18 month driving ban.