A drug addict and alcoholic who “lived a life of crime” has been jailed for four years after being caught with a stash of heroin.

Tony Gray, of Chelmar Road, Chatham, was arrested after police saw him acting suspiciously in the town centre on January 25.

Jane Scotchmer, prosecuting, told Maidstone Crown Court the heroin weighing just over a gram was found when Gray, 47, was strip searched.

Michael Neofytou, defending, said the father-of-two had a pattern of acquisitive offending related to his involvement with drugs and alcohol.
Mr Neofytou added Gray had been free of drugs for some time.

Judge Martin Joy told Gray, who admitted possessing the drug, it was an aggravating feature he had lived a life of crime.

“Those who deal in whatever way in Class A drugs must be severely punished,” he added. “It involves an utterly degrading habit.”