A FATHER-of-five, caught with a £2,000 heroin haul he intended supply to his addict partner and friends, has been jailed for 27 months.

Former bodybuilder Alan West, 43, then using about eight bags of the drug himself every day, bought in bulk to save cash and had used a social security loan to buy the stash.

West, also an alcoholic who was said to drink several cans of strong lager a day, had earlier admitted possessing heroin with intent to supply.

Sentencing, Judge Philip Butler said West, of Burnley Road, Blackburn, had not been supplying as a retailer to make profit.

He told him: “You were not dealing to strangers or children or anything of that kind."

Mark Lamberty, prosecuting, told the court that on March 17 just after 10.30pm, the defendant was seen by police near his home, together with his partner and a dog.

They went to a back alley near the canal and spoke to a man.

An exchange took place and afterwards West was detained and searched. The defendant had on him a package containing 20.2 grammes of heroin, worth about £2,000.

Mr Lamberty said West also had £125 in cash and three mobile phones.

When he was questioned he said he had received some money for incapacity benefit.

The defendant had previous convictions for possessing drugs amongst his ‘substantial criminal record’.

Probation officer Nick Powell, who interviewed West for a pre-sentence report, told the hearing West’s partner had a long-standing drug problem, but he had only started using heroin five years ago when he was jailed for robbery.

Before that, the only drugs he had misused were steroids for body building.