A FATHER found with £80,000 worth of cocaine he was repackaging for a dealer in a bid to clear debt has been jailed.

Nicholas Hills, 42, of Fremantle Close, South Woodham Ferrers, admitted possession with intent to supply and assault by beating earlier this year.

Last Thursday, August 6, he was handed a four year prison sentence at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Hills was arrested while wearing a onesie when his concerned wife contacted police on March 31 after he went missing, and officers went to check if he was at his parents’ house, who were away on holiday.

He came to the door but refused to speak to the police, pushing one of the officers in the chest before trying to slam the door in their faces.

He was arrested for the assault and the drugs were found during a search of the house.

A 998gram block of cocaine with 60 per cent purity, worth about £79,000, was found along with four freezer bags containing smaller amounts.

In total there was just over 1kg, with a street value of £82,500.

Gavin Burrell, mitigating, told the court Hills had an alcohol problem and had been using cocaine since a car crash in 2012 left him unable to work.

He fell into debt with a drug dealer but did not have an income to pay it off.

They came up with an agreement where Hills would weigh and package drugs to pay off the debt.

Mr Burrell claims the messy way in which the block of cocaine had been cut and the fact Hills was wearing a onesie when arrested proves it was a very amateur operation.

Judge QC David Turner, sentencing, said: “People who engage in the drug business in any shape or form as you will now understand receive very little sympathy from the court and serious prison sentences are always inevitable.

“It may be that there was an amateur element to this, but whether skilled and professional or amateur, passing on drugs can only have one catastrophic coincidence for the end user.

“You got in to something over your head. That’s how it works with Class A drugs and that is why it is such a great evil.”