A "high achieving" former student who turned drug dealer after becoming addicted to cannabis has been locked up.

"Sacrificial lamb" Marcus Crawford, 19, was caught trying to dispatch 82 drug wraps and £1,000 after smuggling the contraband into his cell following his arrest.

The former engineering student was caught trying to climb from the second floor window of a Folkestone home he was cuckooing to evade police in September.

Crawford, from London, pleaded guilty to three offences at the earliest opportunity.

Today a judge sentenced Crawford to 28 months inside a Young Offender Institute at Canterbury Crown Court.

The judge, Recorder Angus Withington QC, told Crawford: “Anyone who involves themselves in the supply of Class A drugs is automatically and correctly dealt with severely by the courts, given the misery the supply of drugs causes to society.”

Crawford achieved “impressive GCSEs” before becoming addicted to cannabis, with his subsequent offending tallying up to 14 offences for seven convictions, the court heard.

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When police checked on the welfare of a vulnerable individual in Folkestone Crawford was seen trying to climb from the second floor window on September 15.

After concealing 56 wraps of cocaine, 26 of heroin and £1,000 during the police search, Crawford “tried to discard the drugs while in the cell,” prosecutor Sarah Porter said.

The court heard a search of his phone indicated drug dealing however, Crawford was not in charge of the county lines telephone number.

“He is the sacrificial lamb who attended the property, he is a vulnerable person,” his lawyer Estelle Thornber said.

She added Crawford became involved in criminality after becoming addicted to cannabis, with his nan being forced to move to America after coming under threat from drug dealers.

Appearing via video link from HMP Elmley, Crawford, of Harlesden Road in London, remained passive throughout the hearing.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and possession of criminal property at a previous hearing.