When a man was taken unconscious to hospital, staff and police raided his pockets to try and confirm his identity.

Yet when they looked they discovered cocaine, heroin and cannabis - revealing he was a drugs dealer.

Now jobless plumber Jake Christie – who received a fractured skull in the incident – has been jailed for two years.

Canterbury Crown Court heard how in December 2016 police were called to The Mill Inn in Beauchamp Avenue, Deal, following an incident.

Prosecutor Ben Irwin said a man was lying on the ground with a serious head injury following a serious assault and was later taken to the William Harvey Hospital for treatment.

“He was in a serious condition and after he was admitted staff needed to confirm who he was.

"It was then that heroin, cocaine and cannabis were found.”

Police later checked the 26-year-old father’s phone and discovered a number of messages including: ’Jack is back. 4 for £30’ – a reference to the selling of drugs.

Mr Irwin said the illegal drugs would have had a street value in excess of £700.

“Your decent into this criminality is no less tragic because I hear about this (kind of thing) on an almost on a daily basis...” - Judge Simon James

Phil Rowley, defending, said Christie, of Adelaide Road, Elvington, spent four days in hospital recovering from a fractured skull.

He said he turned to dealing after being intimidated by others after getting into debt to fund his own drugs habit. He has since tried to address his drug habit.

Christie, of Adelaide Road in Dover, admitted two charges of possessing drugs and one of intending to supply.

Judge Simon James said: “Those who seek to profit from the evils of supplying class A drugs, intimidation and violence are an integral part of that trade.

“And those like you, who become involved in Class A drugs, take a risk... and there is an element of inevitability that they will face pressure to sell drugs.

“Your decent into this criminality is no less tragic because I hear about this (kind of thing) on an almost on a daily basis.”